Royal Pains
by AlexaCardew
Summary: After a one night stand with a stranger, Kurt Hummel gets a little more than he bargained for
1. Chapter 1

**Let you put your hands on me in my skin tight jeans**

Kurt's sweaty but satisfied when he tries to disentangle his limb from the man on top of him under the sheet. The Gin cursing through Kurt's veins - so many Gin and Tonics, why did he drink so many Gin and Tonics? - makes it difficult to coordinate them though. The man he's in bed with isn't faring much better before he gives up and unceremoniously slumps down on top of Kurt.

"I should go home," he slurs, "but I left my car at the club. Where do you live again?"

Gosh, they are both so drunk, Kurt thinks. How did this even happen? He doesn't do one night stands, has never before slept with a guy the same night he met him. And now there's a stranger in his bed who doesn't even remember how they got to Kurt's place it seems. His two roommates are going to have a field day with this if they find out. He doesn't even know if they are both home - just hopes he wasn't too loud when he let a stranger fuck him. Kurt can feel his cheeks heat up from just thinking about what they've done. So unlike him.

"You can't drive home, you're drunk," he tells the man with the ridiculously curly hair lying heavily on top of him. "And could you move, you're getting a little heavy."

Blake - Kurt thinks his name is Blake - turns bright red and quickly rolls off Kurt, taking the sheet with him. Kurt fights the urge to cover himself. He just had sex with this man - there's no point in being modest now.

"Can't call a cab," Blake mumbles and then he says something that sounds like 'press might find out', but Kurt's chalks it up to being drunk and misunderstanding his 'date's' slurred speech.

"How'd we get here?" Blake suddenly turns back to Kurt. Kurt grabs the edge of the sheet and covers himself before replying.

"It's a bit fuzzy, but I know we walked. They kicked us out of that bar we met in but you knew this after hours bar so we went there and then we got food from this really horrible Pizza place…"

"… and then you said you had better frozen pizza at your place," the stranger remembers, "and we came here."

Earlier Tonight

Four weeks after graduation, an email sends him spiraling. Kurt puts on his tightest pair of black jeans - the ones where you either wear a thong or nothing at all so he goes with a thong because no underwear at all sounds unhygienic - his favorite knee high, black lace up boots, and black tank top showing off his muscular arms, before he sprays his hair into submission and borrows Santana's mascara and black eyeliner. He wants to get drunk tonight and with that outfit he's sure he'll get a few guys to buy him a drink in exchange for some grinding on the dance floor since he can't actually afford to get drunk.

Four years he's spent at NYU studying musical theater and nine times out of ten he still doesn't get a call back, if he's invited to audition at all. At some point he'll probably have to tell his dad that he's wasted thousands of dollars on an education for Kurt that will never get him a job. Not when he's too girly, his voice too high pitched, too strange - all PC expressions when what people actually want to say is too gay. For the past two years he's told himself that things will change once he graduates and has his diploma, that shows were afraid to hired him because he was still in school and couldn't fully commit, but he hasn't had a single audition since he graduated, longer than that actually. So he needs to get drunk but not at home with his room mates who are the same age but both successful already. He needs a gay bar where everyone else is just as gay and understands what Kurt is dealing with. Because it doesn't matter that civil marriage has been legalized in the country against the wishes of King Richard, Kurt still got verbally attacked by homophobes almost daily.

Google tells him that Scandals, a gay bar near Columbia University has the best drinks deal for the night which suits him well because it isn't too far from his apartment in Northern Manhattan. After stuffing his keys, cellphone and wallet into his pocket - he's always surprised when he can fit anything into his pockets - he takes the 1 train downtown. It's still early when he gets to the bar and there's no queue fortunately since it's a Tuesday and lots of students have left the city for summer break. After showing his ID to the bouncer, Kurt heads straight to the bar - the music is loud but at a level where you can still talk to people without having to scream into their ears - and takes a seat on an empty bar stool. A look a around the room tells him that most people have come in groups - occupying the booths on both sides of the dance floor - but for the time being Kurt's content to watch the few dancers shaking their delicious asses to Katy Perry's new summer hit while he waits for the bartender to look his way.

"Is this seat taken?" a smooth tenor asks and Kurt swivels around. Nearly all bar stools are still free, so the stranger's intent is clear. "I'd love to get you a drink - no strings attached."

Kurt rakes his eyes over the stranger's body. He's roughly Kurt's hight and age, maybe a few years older but definitely under thirty and has the most ridiculously curly hair Kurt's ever seen on a guy. And don't get him started on the eyebrows. His fingers itch for a pair of tweezers to give them a good trim. Not that the stranger isn't attractive. Quite the opposite, he's incredibly hot in his tight red jeans and black polo shirt that shows off the muscles in his arms. Kurt's pretty toned himself thanks to years of dance classes but the stranger looks like he's been carved out of marble or works as a trainer in a gym. He'd be stupid to turn down a drink.

"I'll have what you're having," he smiles before offering his hand to shake. "I'm Kurt."

"Nice to meet you, Kurt," the stranger beams at him before he flags down the bartender and orders two Gin and Tonics. "Do you come here a lot? I've only recently moved to the city and this guy I met online recommended this place."

The stranger looks at him in earnest so Kurt doesn't tease him for the lame pick up line.

"Sometimes. Most of my friends are straight so we usually just go to karaoke bars. By the way, you haven't told me your name yet."

"Blake," the handsome stranger says but he sounds a bit uncertain when he says it and Kurt laughs.

"Are you asking or telling me?"

The bartender returns with their drinks and Blake clinks their glasses together before they both take a sip.

"Ah," Kurt sighs, "exactly what I need tonight."

"Bad day?" Blake asks and Kurt nods.

"But I'd rather not talk about it. Tonight I want to drink until I forget."

"I can get on board for that," Blake laughs and orders two more long drinks while their glasses are still full.

Blake asks him about his favorite spots in New York, things Kurt thinks he should check out and recommendations for restaurants and karaoke bars. They discover their shared love of music though it turns out that Blake is a Katy while Kurt's partial to Lady Gaga. So when Born This Waystarts blasting from the speaker, they down their second drink and head out to the dance floor where Blake's hands find their way around Kurt's waist and pulls him close but not so close that their groins actually touch. Kurt's a bit surprised but then he remembers Blake's 'no strings attached' and just enjoys dancing with a good looking guy.

They are back at the bar and on drink number four when Kurt gasps. "Now I know who you remind me of." It's been years since he's last seen a picture of Prince Blaine, not since the Prince joined the army four years ago following in his father's and older brother's footsteps. "Prince Blaine."

Blake laughs and rubs the back of his hand with his right hand. "I get that all the time but have you see my hair. Also, I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not."

Kurt giggles, a little tipsy after the three Gin and Tonics. "It's a compliment, trust me," he says before leaning in conspiratorially. "I had a huge crush on Prince Blaine when I was young. Was convinced I would marry him one day. "

"Not Prince Cooper," Blake teases him and Kurt shakes his head adamantly.

"I was like thirteen and Prince Cooper twenty so he seemed way too old for me, but Prince Blaine, he's only two years older than me, and to be honest, I think he's the much cuter of the two Princes. Don't you agree?"

"Oh, um, I've never really thought about that," Blake evades the question and Kurt slaps his leg playfully.

"Now you're just lying. What gay boy hasn't fantasized about hooking up with one of the Princes at least once."

His new friend blushes and clears his throat a few times before he responds. "Well, I guess Prince Cooper's a little too stuck up for my taste."

"Good answer," Kurt grins. "Too bad they're straight."

"Do you want another drink?" Blake asks and downs the contents of his glass in one go.

Kurt's pleasantly buzzed already but so far Blake hasn't demanded anything in exchange for the drinks so he nods. As long as Blake doesn't suddenly think he's owed a quicky in the bathroom for buying Kurt drinks, he'll stay and talk a bit longer.

They dance some more between drinks - neither of them stupid enough to leave a drink unattended because they've all heard the horror stories of date rape drugs slipped into drinks of unsuspecting men and women - and suddenly it's two in the morning and they are being kicked out of the club.

Kurt shivers lightly because the night's cooler than he thought it would be and he's all sweaty from dancing. But he's got no auditions lined up and no leads on shows with open auditions so for once he doesn't care if he gets a cold.

"I'd offer you a jacket but I didn't bring one either," Blake says and Kurt smiles at him. "I know this after hours place though. A friend of mine went to Columbia and he took me there once when I was visiting. Unless you want to go home?"

Kurt doesn't even think about it and shakes his head immediately. "Lead the way," he says and links his arm with Blake's.

They move on to Tequila shots because its 2 for 1 night at Rick's Bar, a little hole in the wall place that reminds Kurt of a 1920s speakeasy. Blake gets him to talk about what's been troubling him with just two shots and before long, Kurt's a blubbering mess in Blake's arms.

"I'm sure something will come along. You wouldn't have gotten into that school if you didn't have talent," Blake assures him after getting a napkin from the bar so Kurt can wipe his face.

"I guess," he agrees, the alcohol messing with his emotions, but he's always been more of a weepy drunk than an aggressive drunk.

Blake gets them one more round and Kurt, embarrassed about crying onto Blake's shirt, downs another tequila shot before sucking on a slice of lemon.

"I'll have to get some food before I go to bed," he groans after spitting the lemon slice back out. "Otherwise, I'll have a massive hangover tomorrow. Not that I have a reason to get out of bed but I'd still like to avoid it."

"I think we passed a pizza place on the way here. Do you wanna check if it's still open?" Blake asks and Kurt agrees since they aren't too far from his apartment - only about fifteen minutes on foot.

Antonio's Pizza turns out to be an all night restaurant, but the pizza is disgusting and Kurt's glad they both only got one slice to begin with. They leave their slices on a park bank in case anyone else wanted them and then Kurt has a glorious idea.

"We've got some frozen pizzas at my place. It's not far if you want some proper food."

Blake grabs his hand and pulls him away from the park bench. "Sounds great."

They hold hands all the way to Kurt's apartment but Kurt's too drunk to pay it much attention. They are both a bit unsteady on their feet and holding hands is keeping them from falling over.

The apartment he shares with two friends from high school - Santana and Rachel - is on the third floor and Kurt thanks his lucky star that the elevator was finally fixed last week. Blake's standing very close as they ride up and Kurt drops his keys once when Blake presses himself against Kurt's back while he tries to unlock his front door. As soon as they are inside and the door is closed behind them, Blake turns him around in his arms.

"I've been wanting to kiss you all night. Can I?"

Kurt nods dumbly because he's hoped Blake might like him, but he never made a move all night and so Kurt's convinced himself that making a new friend is okay too.

All thoughts of food go out of the window when Blake presses his slightly chapped lips against Kurt's, his hands coming up to frame his face. After a few seconds of closemouthed kissing, Kurt lets Blake lick into his mouth, the taste of tequila still lingering on his tongue. His back collides with his front door when Blake presses up against him and Kurt's hands come to rest atop Blake's belt, his thumbs threaded through the loops to keep them from reaching around and grabbing Blake's ass.

Blake doesn't share Kurt's concern and slips his right hand under Kurt's tank top where it's come out of his pants, caressing the small of his back while he sucks on Kurt's tongue. Then it's gone from Kurt's mouths and Blake's kissing his neck briefly before moving on to his earlobe while Kurt pants.

He's no blushing virgin, but it's been three years since he's had sex. Three years since he found out that his very first boyfriend was cheating on him with pretty much every gay guy in the art department after dating him for eight months. Santana and Rachel gave him a weekend on the couch to mope around before they dragged him to the free clinic to make sure his cheating ex didn't give him more than a broken heart since they'd forgone condoms because Kurt was a virgin und his ex got tested regularly and told Kurt he'd been single for a while. After, he focused on school and used his acting classes as free therapy sessions. Occasionally he went on dates and kissed a few guys but it never went beyond a second date because most guys he met were more interested in hooking up than a relationship.

And now he's pressed up against his front door with a hot guy between his legs and Kurt wonders why he's never done this before - go to a bar and bring a guy home.

"Can I blow you?" Blake whispers into his ears and Kurt shivers and pulls Blake closer by his belt loops.

"Shower first, I'm all sweaty from dancing. But you're welcome to join me," he says with a wink over his shoulder after slipping out of Blake's tight embrace.

Blake wraps his arms around him from behind and Kurt shuffles them both to the bathroom, banging into Rachel's ugly floor lamp as they go.

"Oops," Kurt giggles before he shushes himself.

The light in the bathroom is harsh compared to the soft bar lighting they were under all night, but Blake's just as hot under the unforgiving light and Kurt doesn't protest when Blake unbuckles his belt, unbuttons his pant and slowly pulls the zipper over Kurt's aching erection. Before they go any further, Kurt turns on the water because he wasn't kidding when he said he needed a shower before he would let Blake blow him. Blake pulls him back against his chest before he grabs the hem of Kurt's tank top and pulls it over Kurt's head, messing up his carefully styled hair, but Kurt, uncharacteristically, doesn't give a fuck, especially when Blake starts kissing and sucking on the back of his neck while the fingers of his right hand pinch Kurt's nipples.

"Shower," he moans because the sooner they're clean, the sooner they can take this to his bedroom.

Blake doesn't have to be asked twice as he releases Kurt to pull his shirt over his curls, unbuckles his belt and takes his pants and underwear off in one go as if that's something he does all the time. Maybe he does, Kurt thinks, because what does he really know about his 'date'? Nothing, a little voice in the back of his head whispers but Kurt ignores it and ogles Blake instead. Blake's incredibly tan, like he spends all his time outside or spent some time in the south recently and he's got abs Kurt wants to lick. Compared to his broad shoulders and strong, muscular arms, his waist is tiny and Kurt wills his cheek not to turn red when he looks over the rest of Blake's body. He's a guy, he watches porn, but it's not the same when you have a naked guy right in front of you who you are allowed to kiss and touch. To his surprise, Blake's circumcised, a practice pretty much outlawed in the kingdom for anyone not Jewish or a member of the royal family. And then he mentally chastises himself because you can't tell if someone's Jewish or not just by looking at them. He also mourns the fact that he'll have to use a condom with Blake because he's curious to know if sex with a circumcised man feels different than sex with an uncircumcised one.

"Like what you see," Blake teases him when Kurt stares at his dick longer than what seems polite.

Kurt's cheeks turn bright red and he busies himself with wiggling out of his skinny jeans with as much dignity as possible which is no easy feat. Blake's eyes widen when he sees what Kurt's wearing underneath and before Kurt can remove his underwear, Blake's doing it for him and Kurt shivers under his touch. And then he nearly falls over trying to climb into the shower because they are both so fucking drunk, but it doesn't matter because there's a super hot guy joining him in the shower. Kurt lets him use his favorite body wash and leans into the touch when Blake runs the soapy sponge all over Kurt's body before dropping to his knees in front of him.

"Are you clean?" Blake asks, looking up at Kurt through his ridiculously long eyelashes and Kurt's knees buckle, because holy shit that's hot.

"Yeah," he rasps and then Blake takes him in his mouth.

The water keeps falling onto them continuously, but all Kurt can focus on is the feeling of Blake's glorious mouth on his dick. He's no expert, but he's pretty certain that this is the best blow job ever though it might also be the alcohol that makes him feel weak in the knees. He has to put his hands on Blake's shoulder to steady himself, but Blake takes his hands and puts them into his hair. He tries not to pull at the silky curls until he discovers that Blake likes it, makes him moan and every time Blake moans it goes straight to Kurt's dick. It's been so long and so he gets close embarrassingly fast, but Blake doesn't seem to mind, doubling his efforts when Kurt warns him and Kurt comes in his mouth with a shout. They're probably being too loud - he doesn't know about Santana, but Rachel's keys were in the bowl next to the door - but right now Kurt doesn't give a fuck, because holy fucking shit, that was fantastic.

Unsteadily, he pulls Blake to his feet and kisses him messily, tasting himself on Blake's tongue, but it doesn't bother him - not like it had in the past. Blake's still hard, so he shuts the water off, dries them off perfunctorily and hands Blake his bathrobe before putting on Santana's. Blake has the good sense to scoop their clothes off the floor as he follows Kurt to his bedroom, where he drops them on Kurt's desk chair before pushing the robe of Kurt's body.

Kurt feels a little high after his spectacular orgasm and as soon as he has Blake naked again, he pulls down the sheet and pushed Blake onto his bed before climbing on top of him, grinding his renewed erection - he's twenty-two so his recovery time is still amazing even when his drunk out of his mind - against Blake's. Blake bucks up underneath him, even more desperate for friction. Kurt leans forward and pulls a bottle of lube and a condom from the top drawer of his nightstand - Santana keeps buying him condoms but he's never used them before - and pushes both into Blake's hands.

"Fuck me?" he asks in what he hopes is a seductive tone, because now that he's already let a stranger blow him, he may as well go all out.

Blake nods enthusiastically before he covers the fingers of his right hand with lube. He sinks his mouth back over Kurt's dick before pressing a finger inside him and Kurt groans because this is so much better than doing it to himself. It doesn't take long before Kurt's practically begging Blake to just fuck him and he sighs in relief when Blake roles on the condom. Kurt wraps his legs around Blake's waist and moans loudly when Blake pushes into him, moving at what feels like a snail's pace.

"Holy shit you're tight," Blake exclaims and Kurt doesn't know whether he should blush or preen.

He settles on clenching around Blake to get him to get a move on and then Blake gets with the program and all bets are off. There's no way he won't be sore tomorrow, it's been fucking forever and Kurt keeps begging Blake to go faster and harder, uninhibited like he's never been before, and for a moment he wonders why people have sex sober when it can feel like this, when he can let go and not worry if he's making weird faces and noises or if his body is ugly. Blake wraps a hand around Kurt's dick and strokes it in tandem with his thrusts and Kurt swears he sees stars when he comes a second time, Blake following shortly after. He hisses when Blake pulls out and hands him a tissue from the nightstand so he can dispose of the condom while Kurt runs another one over the mess on his stomach. Then the atmosphere changes abruptly when Blake looks at his wristwatch and starts to disentangle himself from Kurt. Suddenly shy, Kurt pulls up the sheet to cover himself but it only traps Blake and makes him crash on top of Kurt where he stays for a moment.

"I should go home," Blake slurs, "but I left my car at the club. Where do you live again?"

"You can't drive home, you're drunk," he tells Blake trying not to show his hurt. "And could you move, you're getting a little heavy."

Blake turns bright red and quickly rolls off Kurt, taking the sheet with him. Kurt fights the urge to cover himself. It's only been a few minutes since he's had Blake's dick inside him - much too late for modesty.

"Can't call a cab," Blake mumbles and then he says something that sounds like 'press might find out', but Kurt's chalks it up to being drunk and misunderstanding his 'date's' slurred speech.

"How'd we get here?" Blake suddenly turns back to Kurt. Kurt grabs the edge of the sheet and covers himself before replying.

"It's a bit fuzzy, but I know we walked. They kicked us out of that bar we met in but you knew this after hours bar so we went there and then we got food from this really horrible Pizza place…"

"… and then you said you had better frozen pizza at your place," Blake says, "and we came here."

And now he can't wait to get out of my bed, Kurt thinks. But what did you expect? he chides himself for his own stupidity. Of course this isn't the beginning of a great love story. You let a stranger fuck you and now he's leaving. How else did you think this would go? You're not even sure if he's name's really Blake.

Blake misses Kurt beating himself up internally, busy with trying to figure out how to get home from Kurt's place.

"It's only about 45 minutes walk. That's not too bad," he muses and Kurt tries not to cry because how horrible must the sex have been if Blake doesn't even want to stay till morning when it's already four o'clock.

"You can stay over," he offers on the off chance that Blake thinks Kurt wants him gone.

"My dad will kill me if he finds out I've been out all night," Blake says and Kurt freezes, because fuck, fuck, fuck, did he just sleep with a minor? Please let Blake not be a minor. He doesn't want to ask, but he has to. After Blake's statement he just has to.

"Please tell me you're at least eighteen. I don't care if you're still in school, but please tell me you're at least eighteen."

Blake frowns, apparently confused by Kurt's sudden breakdown. "I'm twenty-four and I'm pretty sure I told you that a few hours ago."

"Oh thank god," Kurt sinks back into the pillows. "But then why does it matter if you stay out all night. My dad's super protective and even he understands that I'm not a child anymore and get to make my own decisions."

"My dad's an asshole," Blake says darkly. "Sometimes he even has someone follow me to make sure I don't ruin his reputation with my 'disease'."

"Is your dad like a politician?" Kurt asks, the sudden seriousness of the topic sobering him quicker than any coffee might have.

"He's a conservative homophobe who just can't accept that one of his son's different. But I don't really want to talk about it. I need to get home before I get into trouble."

"And I think you should stay here," Kurt says, suddenly angry on Blake's behalf. He doesn't even know Blake's dad but no father has the right to control their twenty-four year old son's life. "You're an adult and I think your dad needs to learn to treat you as one."

Blake's eyelids are drooping and though Kurt likes to convince himself that his arguments have won Blake over, it's probably a mix of too much alcohol, the sex and the lateness of the hour that makes his guest fall asleep before he can find a way to flee from Kurt's apartment. After pulling on a pair of black boxers, Kurt's quick to follow him into dreamland as well. It's were he thinks he still is when he wakes up a few hours later and all hell has broken lose in front of his apartment building.


	2. Chapter 2

**Look at me and tell me who I am**

It's still very early in the morning when Kurt is woken from a very nice dream in which Blake is actually a prince and they ride off into the sunset together on two white stallions. The real Blake is frantically closing the curtains in Kurt's room chanting a litany of swear words as he does so. Blake's dressed in navy blue boxer briefs and his formfitting black polo shirt and if at all possible, his hair looks even crazier, a little bit as if he's put his finger in a socket. It's understandable though, with the way he's running his hands through his hair in what clearly is a nervous gesture.

"Whas goin on?" Kurt slurs, his mouth dry and his head pounding when he tries to sit up

"You have roommates, right? Are they guys or girls?" The room is suddenly pitch black dark and Kurt fumbles for the light on his nightstand. It's blinding and aggravates his headache but he feels like he needs to see Blake because he's got no clue what's going on.

"Yeah, I've got two, Rachel and Santana. But I'm sure they are still asleep if they are even home. If you're quiet I'm sure you can leave without running into them."

He desperately needs an aspirin and with the way Blake keeps grimacing he definitely needs one too.

"Would either of them pretend to be my girlfriend. I have money." Blake's clearly desperate, his eyes pleading with Kurt, but all Kurt feels is hurt. Strike that, he's pissed. He's hungover, sore in places he hasn't been sore in years and instead of just sneaking out and sparing them both the morning after awkwardness, Blake wants to pretend that he hooked up with a girl for whatever reason. He's heard of internalized homophobia, but this is taking it a bit too far.

"You know, I was gonna ask for your phone number because you seemed to like me but clearly I was mistaken. So I don't know what sick game you're playing but I want you out of my apartment. I'm gonna count till ten and if you're not gone I'm gonna call the police," Kurt says trying to appear threatening in boxers and crazy bedhead but with the way Blake freaks out he must not be such a bad actor after all.

"I can't go out there! Please don't throw me out. They'll tell everyone and then he'll kill me." Blake's on him in a flash and grabs Kurt's hands as if to stop him from calling the cops.

"Alright, you have one minute to explain and if I don't like what I hear you're out," Kurt fixes Blake with an icy stare and the other man backs away until he's against the window. Blake sinks to the floor, his back pressed against the radiator underneath Kurt's window, and wraps his arms around his knees.

"I don't know where to start." He sounds young and scared but Kurt doesn't give a damn in that moment, he wants to know what kind of freak he's taken home with him. _And that's why you shouldn't have one night stands,_ the angel on his right shoulder chides.

"Why can't' you go outside?" Kurt asks. "And don't lie to me."

Blake visibly deflates even more. "It's the press. Someone must have spotted me last night and followed me here. So please, can you ask your roommates. The press can't find out I'm here with a guy."

Kurt just shakes his head resolutely even though it aggravates his headache. "Forget it, Rachel's got a boyfriend and Santana's got a girlfriend. Also, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if someone really followed you here that means they followed _us_ here, which means they saw who you came home with. And thirdly, I've been through too much shit in my life to go back into the closet for some dude I met last night."

His head is pounding even worse than when he first woke up a few minutes ago - though it feels more like hours ago - and Kurt suppresses the urge to throw up. He's not leaving his room until Blake's gone. Blake who's turned deathly pale.

"He's going to kill me, no worse, he'll probably make me ambassador in a country where they stone homosexuals to death. This isn't happening. How is this happening?"

For the first time since waking up, Kurt considers that Blake may be telling him the truth. The alternative is that he brought home a guy suffering from schizophrenia or something like that and Kurt's not sure yet which he would prefer. Especially, because there's this niggling feeling in his stomach that he's missing something, something big.

"Is your dad," he clears his dry throat, "is your dad the prime minister?" He should know if their prime minister has kids, but he doesn't. He was never all that interested in politics so unless their politicians end up in one of Kurt's trashy magazines he has no clue what is going on in the country. And neither has he cared to know more when no one in politics ever cared about him and his people. Even his right to marry had to be fought out in court because both the Crown and the government opposed civil marriage for same sex couples.

Blake lets out a hollow laugh. "Worse, so much worse."

And Kurt remembers telling his new friend that he looks a bit like Prince Blaine and how Blake had changed the subject. How Blake told him he went abroad for his education but refused to give Kurt any details. How Blake insisted they talk mostly about Kurt all night. It hits him like a ton of bricks when he realizes who it is that is currently crying on his bedroom floor. And then he's stumped because he doesn't even know how to address the guy he's had sex with only hours ago. A man who's second in line to the throne after his older brother, Crown Prince Cooper. A man, who as far Kurt knows, is as straight as they come. A man who spent his youth in boarding schools in England and France, spent four semesters studying history at Harvard before training with the military to become a fighter pilot. Kurt looks at the crying mess on his bedroom floor and tries to align it with the last picture he's seen of the Prince about four years ago, a picture with the caption _Prince Blaine out and about in Boston with girlfriend Charlotte of Carolina._

And then he freaks out himself. " _Oh shit._ You're messing with me, right? You're not really… Oh shit, I had sex with the Prince."

Because yes, that's who's sitting on his bedroom floor and now that he knows Kurt can't believe he ever believed differently because those eyebrows, how many people have eyebrows like that, those big triangles? Did the Prince really manage to fool him just because he let his hair go wild? He didn't even know the Prince had naturally curly hair. And then he remembers admitting his crush to the Prince and he wants to throw something at him. Would that be considered an act of treason? Could he be arrested if he threw his pillow or the water in his glass at the Prince?

"You let me gush about you. You let me bitch about the King," Kurt says in a daze because this isn't happening. His one night stand didn't just turn out to be the Prince, right? The apparently super closeted Prince.

"I told you my father is an asshole. Why would I have stopped you? And I'm sorry, Kurt, but I couldn't tell you. No one's supposed to know I'm not normal."

Kurt bristles at 'not normal' but lets the Prince continue.

"When one of my security details saw me kiss a guy at a party in Boston, my dad took me out of school and told me it was time to start training with the military. That was four years ago. Everyone on base hated me because I had a single, but it wasn't because I was a prince, it was so I wouldn't share with other recruits. I couldn't tell anyone that though because it probably would have earned me a beating prince or not. Especially since I'm not the crown prince. And trust me, I'm glad I'm not. If I would be next in line, I'd never be free. But as long as Cooper's the Crown Prince, I can get a divorce after my father dies and come out. Cooper wouldn't care, he's the only one who's supportive."

Kurt swallows around the sudden lump in his throat, his headache momentarily forgotten. "What about your mo, I mean the Queen?"

The Prince laughs hollowly again. "She'd never go against my dad. So she pretends it never happened and that now that I'm back in the city I'm going to marry my girlfriend and settle down with her."

"She's always seemed so progressive," Kurt frowns.

"Oh, she's quiet liberal as long as it's not her own son. But liberal is probably relative. Yes, for our country she's pretty liberal but read any European newspaper and they all call her 'staunchly conservative Queen Pamela'."

Kurt decides not to tell the Prince that he's never read a European newspaper in his life. That he doesn't read any newspapers really - at least no traditional ones. Why should he care about what's happening in the rest of the country or the world, when he's currently unemployed, the proud owner of two student loans, has no leads on any jobs and has no qualifications apart from an acting degree. Well, he also knows how to do an oil change and change tires, but he's no certified mechanic. Gosh, what would the Prince think of him if he knew all that. Would he be embarrassed that he didn't pick someone smarter for a secret one night stand?

He is saved from having to answer by Santana barging through his door, knocking still a foreign concept for her.

"What's going on?" she asks looking a little disheveled herself. "There's like fifty reporters in front of our building looking for a tall, slim guy with brown hair wearing skin tight black jeans and eye make up. Remind you of any…?" Santana stops herself mid sentence and gawks at the Prince who's still curled up on Kurt's bedroom floor while Kurt's hands fly to his eyes because he's totally forgotten to remove the make up last night. Hopefully the shower took care of it and he didn't have sex with the Prince with mascara all over his face.

"Who's he?" she inquires. "Is he why we're surrounded by press."

"Don't be ridiculous," Kurt shakes his head, hoping to get rid off his roommate before she recognizes the Prince. "He's just a guy I met last night - you can grill me about it later - so whoever they're looking for, it isn't me."

His other roommate Rachel, a petite brunette, barges into his room as well, dressed in her pink bathrobe and brandishing a rolling pin.

"I heard yelling, what's going on?"

Kurt rolls his eyes. "It's good to know that you'd try and save me from a potential attacker, but next time get a kitchen knife, Rachel. And to answer your question, nothing's going on. Santana just got home and it seems there are reporters in front of our building."

"Reporters?" Rachel perks up immediately. "I didn't think the press would be interested in a lowly understudy who's yet to perform in the role but I'm flattered none the less."

Rachel dropped out of NYU where she was at Tisch with Kurt two years ago after she was cast in a revival of _Funny Girl._ After six months, when the woman playing Fanny Brice relinquished the role to her understudy, Rachel was promoted to understudy and even got to play the role a few times. Unfortunately for her, the show closed before Rachel had the chance to advance as well, but she soon got hired again. Currently - and Kurt is jealous as hell - his friend is part of the company of _Hamilton,_ understudying Eliza Hamilton, but she hasn't gotten to play the role yet since technically she is the understudy to Eliza's understudy. But still, at least she gets to be onstage every night while Kurt hasn't even had an audition in like three months.

"No one knows who you are Berry," Santana drawls and Rachel huffs indignantly.

"Then who are they here for? Obviously not for Kurt."

"Yes, obviously not for Kurt," Kurt says bitterly. "Why should anyone be interested in me, right?"

"That's not what I meant. Don't twist my words, Kurt," Rachel protests. "And it's not my fault that you aren't willing to go the extra mile to get some acting work."

"Because I refused to sleep with the casting director you introduced me to?" Kurt bristles, forgetting for a moment that there's a distraught Prince on his bedroom floor clad in nothing more than underwear and a body hugging shirt. "I'm ambitious, but I guess I'm not as ambitious as you."

"Maybe, ah, I should give you a moment," the Prince pipes up from the floor, head cradled in the palms of his hands either because of his headache or to hide his face from Kurt's roommates.

"It's okay, they were just leaving anyway," Kurt glares at Santana and Rachel. "You can give me the third degree when he's gone, but right now we're hungover as hell and would like to go back to bed."

Prince Blaine lifts his head at the 'we' and when Santana sees his face she starts laughing almost hysterically.

"I thought you were over your little crush on the Prince, but look at him, he even has the same weird eyebrows. Has no one ever told you about tweezers?"

The Prince's hands fly up to his eyebrows and covers them self-consciously.

"What's wrong with my eyebrows?" he mumbles and Kurt shakes his head to try to tell the Prince that there's nothing wrong with them even though he's thought the same thing the previous night.

"Maybe the press mistook you for Prince Blaine and that's why they are here," Rachel suggests excitedly. "How awesome would it be to meet actually royalty."

 _You couldn't keep your head down and your mouth shut until my roommates were gone,_ Kurt thinks as Santana's eyes suddenly widen in shock and her jaw drops almost comically before she curtsies. Kurt's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets, because this is Santana. His fierce, take no bullshit from anyone roommate who threatens anyone who looks at her or her girlfriend weirdly with the razorblades she claims to have hidden in her hair. The last person he would ever expect to show deference to a prince.

"Santana, why are you….?" Rachel starts before she understands as well and bows down so far, her nose nearly touches the ground. "I'm so sorry, your Highness. I, we didn't mean no harm, it's just, you look very different with your hair like this."

"Not different enough," the Prince mumbles before he adds quickly, "and please don't bow. At least not in private."

"So they're here for you?" Santana recovers quickly. "How do they know you're here."

The Prince hangs his head. "They must have followed me and Kurt last night. I was having so much fun just going out dancing like a normal guy that I forgot to be careful. And now my dad's going to kill me.

"Oh shit," Rachel exclaims. "There was an article in _Royal News_ a few weeks ago that announced your engagement to Lady Charlotte. Does she know that you are…" she gestures at the Prince and Kurt and Prince Blaine shakes his head.

"The Crown still has this antiquated rule that any woman wanting to marry into the immediate royal family has to remain a virgin till the wedding. It's a shitty, patriarchal rule and once Cooper rules, he's going to get rid of it, but in my case, it offered an excuse why I wasn't sleeping with my girlfriend of five years. I feel like the worst person in the word for stringing her along though."

"Did you promise to marry her when you met?" Santana asks and the Prince shakes his head yet again. "Then it's not your fault she just assumed she'd be your wife one day. She could just as easily use _you_ to advance. Because lets be honest - the Carolinas haven't had any influence in this country for centuries. But if Lady Charlotte of Carolina marries the second in line to the throne, then her family becomes important again."

Prince Blaine shrugs. Kurt knows that King Richard married a commoner, a rich commoner, but a commoner nonetheless, so the princes are free to marry whoever they want, or as Kurt is beginning to understand, anyone female who can guarantee a white wedding. At almost thirty, Prince Cooper is under pressure though to find a suitable wife and start a family if _Royal News_ can be trusted.

"You should tell her, before she hears it from the press," Kurt says after putting himself in Lady Charlotte's shoes for a moment. "Because even if she isn't dating you for love, she deserves to know before anyone else."

"I," the Prince shakes his head determinedly, "I can't come out, Kurt, I told you. I'll just tell the press that I was meeting up with a friend I hadn't seen in years, we were drinking and so I crashed at your place because it sounded like the responsible thing to do. We didn't do anything in public that could be construed as more than friendly, right?"

While Santana and Rachel frown, Kurt wracks his brain, but there are chunks of last night missing.

"I don't know, I'm sorry your Highness." _Wow, it feels weird addressing his one night stand like that._

"Please, in private no bowing and just call me Blaine," the Prince protests before he slams his fist against the floor. "Dammit, I can't remember either."

Blaine - and it will take some time to get used to calling him that - looks like he is going to cry and Kurt approaches him slowly, afraid to spook him, and wraps his arms around Blaine's shoulders when the Prince doesn't stop him, dressed in nothing but black boxers, but now's not the time to feel self-conscious in front of his roommates especially Santana who runs around in just her underwear all the time.

"It's going to be okay," Kurt soothes the Prince. He's still angry about the lies, but he understands the Prince's reasons for giving him a fake name and pretending to be a different person.

"No it's not," the Prince sniffles. "If this comes out, then the whole world will know, not just my parents, my friends and maybe my classmates. The whole world. I'm second in line to the throne, I'm not allowed to be gay. My father is the head of the Church of America and if something would happen to my dad and my brother, it would be up to me to keep our line alive. And only children born within a Church sanctioned marriage are permitted to carry royal titles. Maybe one day, when Cooper has children, I can be free to be who I am, but until then, I have to play my part. I've told Charlotte that we can't get married until Cooper does, so that should give me a little more time, but eventually I will have to marry her and start a family. So trust me, anyone who thinks that my life's perfect because I'm a prince, I'll exchange my life for theirs in a heartbeat. Because I'm being kept in a cage. Yes, it's a golden cage, but a cage nonetheless."

After finishing his little monologue, the Prince starts crying in earnest, and Kurt feels his tears fall onto his chest where Blaine's head is buried.

Kurt's so focused on the crying prince in his arms that it takes him a moment to notice that Santana and Rachel are having an argument.

"I can't believe you did that, Santana. Delete it."

"No. Remember that kid down the block a few weeks ago who was beaten to death because he dared to kiss his boyfriend goodnight in public. Remember how you freaked out because what if that happened to your dads. Or to Kurt. We know it makes a difference when celebrities come out, you've seen the studies too, how people become more open minded when their favorite football player or actor comes out. Just imagine how many people it's going to help if Prince Blaine of America comes out. If even a member of the royal family can be gay, isn't that all the proof we need to show people, yes they're really born that way."

Neither of them is paying any attention to the phone in Santana's hand. Rachel's crying as she remembers Todd and Kurt's trying to wrap his head around the fact that one of his best friends has just filmed Prince Blaine's confession.

"Your Highness," Santana addresses Blaine who looks up at her with red-rimmed eyes. "I'm sorry, but this is for the good of the people."

And then she presses send, emailing Blaine's video to every major news outlet in the country. "I'm sure you'll hate me now, but one day you'll thank me for it."


	3. Chapter 3

Introducing the Prince's POV

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

"What did you, what did you do Santana?" Kurt screams and the Prince falls apart in his arms.

"What needed to be done. Now, I'll go downstairs and tell the vultures you climbed down the fire escape in the back a while ago. That should give you another hour or so before the news breaks."

Santana turns on the spot and struts out of Kurt's room and with one last look at Kurt and the Prince, Rachel follows her, her voice high pitched as she berates Santana.

"How could you do this? Don't you remember what it felt like when you were outed on TV?"

"At least it showed me who my real friends are and who in my family I can count on," Santana retorts before the front door closes behind her.

With Santana and Rachel gone, Kurt pushes Blaine upright and shakes him until the Prince's unfocused eyes meet him.

"I'm sorry but you got to snap out of it and make a plan. Is there anyone you could call to come pick you up and take you home assuming you don't actually live at the Palace."

"I don't. I'm staying at Richmond House at the moment," Blaine whispers hoarsely, before he takes a deep breath, wipes his tears away with the back of his hand and straightens his spine. Right in front of him, the bubbly stranger Kurt spent the night with, transfers into the Prince, a prince raised on a strict code of conduct and four years of military service.

"I can't got back there though," the Prince continues. "Someone will have alerted my father to my absence and if I go there now I'll only run into his guards who will take me to the Palace."

"You know your father isn't going to actually kill you, right? He's the King, he can't do that."

"Yes, but he can put me on a plane to some country where they kill homosexuals and spin it as his younger son the humanitarian, off to build houses and sink wells in the third world. And I couldn't do a thing against it. I have no income, can't get a normal job, only got a honorable discharge from the army because I'm royal and I don't even have a normal ID because I don't have an actual last name. I've been using my mother's maiden name whenever I wanted to go out incognito because there are millions of people named Anderson and I'm sure there's more than one Blaine Anderson, but yeah, I'm at my father's mercy. His my father and my King and I have to obey him."

"That sucks," Kurt exclaims. He's romanticized the monarchy for years, but the way Blaine describes it, he's pretty happy that he's just Kurt Hummel, son of a mechanic and a school teacher. "Is there anywhere else you could go? Any friends who could take you in for a few days?"

"None that my family isn't aware of. They couldn't hide me if my father's intent on finding me."

Kurt considers their options for a moment. They can't really stay at his apartment because sooner or later, the press will be back, if Santana even manages to convince them to leave in the first place. Because it's not just Blaine that's in the video, there's Kurt too, holding the Prince like a lover would and neither of them fully clothed. There's no way the press will leave him alone as long as the Prince's sexuality is breaking news. He doesn't even have a place to go to hide out at in the City because he never really made friends in college - every classmate was the competition after all - and lost contact to the people who didn't bully him in high school years ago.

"Your friend's car - who knows you've been driving it?" Kurt asks, coming to the conclusion that he and the Prince better get out of the city while they still can.

"I guess no one. I'm sure it would have been taken away already if my father had found out. I don't have a license to drive on public roads which is crazy because I've been trained to fly fighter jets."

"Then we'll drive to my dad's and wait till it all blows over. You can release a statement and tell the press that you're okay but won't be out in public for a while to figure things out with your family. Then your dad can't openly look for you when everyone thinks you're at the Palace," Kurt explains his plan as he pulls a small suitcase out from under his bed and starts packing.

"Where does your family live?" the Prince asks before pulling the curtains aside an inch and peaking out. "They're still here."

"Ohio."

"Is it nice? Cooper's visited every state, but I only know the east coast and Europe. My dad doesn't think I need to travel the country when I will never be King anyway."

"It's backwards, conservative, filled with racists, homophobes and misogynists and hopefully the last place the press will go looking for a newly outed prince."

"Sounds lovely," Blaine quips and Kurt's happy that the Prince is able to joke at all.

"You'll have to wear my clothes until we can get you some new ones," he apologizes to Blaine while he packs, the Prince's eyes staring out through the inch of open curtain.

"Even if they leave, how are we going to get to the car? I left it around the corner from _Scandals."_

 _"_ There's this new thing - I'm not sure if you've heard of it - called the subway. It's usually filled with grumpy people minding their own business, especially early in the morning. Trust me, no one will look for you on the subway if they are looking for you at all."

"I hope you're right. And I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I don't think I've said it yet, but I'm really sorry, Kurt. This doesn't effect just me, but I've been acting like it does."

He doesn't know what makes him do it - they haven't brushed their teeth yet and they aren't drunk anymore - but Blaine doesn't pull back when Kurt kisses his lips for a brief moment.

"It's going to be okay. And, hey, you're lucky you picked an unemployed recent graduate who can take off any time. There's nothing waiting for me here right now. And it's probably safer for Santana if we don't see each other for a while. I can't believe she did what she did when someone outed her on local TV when we were in high school. She was so devastated because her grandma, who practically raised her, disowned her when she found out Santana liked girls. So, I don't understand how she could do that to you. You're not a politician known for his anti gay rhetoric who's paying boys to sleep with him in secret. I have no problem with outing guys like that. But you've been an ally even when we thought you are straight. I really don't know if I can keep living with her when we get back. In fact, why aren't you angrier?"  
Blaine sighs. "What would it change? If I screamed in her face or hit her, would it recall that email? She did what she did because she believes it's for the greater good and she might be right. I never even considered what my coming out would mean to my people, I only thought about myself, how it would ruin my life."

"It was still wrong of her to do it," Kurt insists, because if their roles were reversed he would be screaming at Santana and find a way to make her pay for what she's done.

"At least she's helping me now," Blaine says from his perch by the window. "I don't know what she said to the reporters but the first are leaving."

"Let me know when they're all gone and we'll leave," Kurt instructs before heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth before packing his toothbrush. Underneath the sink he finds a spare, still wrapped in plastic, either belonging to Rachel or Santana and Kurt takes it back to his room along with his shampoos and conditioners.

"They're both still gone if you want to switch and use the bathroom before we leave. You can use this toothbrush."

The Prince takes the offered toothbrush with a grateful smile on his face and trades Kurt his place by the window. Downstairs, Santana is talking to a handful of reporters while Rachel hovers nearby. They are too far away for Kurt to read their expressions but if he knows Rachel at all, she's probably trying to get her picture taken by pretending to be horrified that someone was seeing Broadway actress Rachel Berry in this getup. _Maybe, she's right_ , Kurt thinks as he watches his roommates interact with the press, _if this is going the extra mile then I'm really not up for it._ Then he lets his mind wander, trying to imagine what impact being associated with Prince Blaine might have on his future career. Will it be easier for him to get an audition because he was with the Prince when he came out or will people try to stay clear of him because they don't want to be accused of only casting him because of his association with the Prince. What if King Richard bans him from ever coming back to New York as punishment for seducing his son? Does the King have that kind of power? He would ask Blaine if it didn't sound like such a stupid question.

The prince in question returns from the bathroom, toothbrush in hand and hair hanging low over his forehead to hide his eyebrows.

"Do you have a baseball cap?" Kurt raises an eyebrow.

"Do I look like I own a baseball cap? I have a pair of fake classes though from when I went as Clark Kent for Halloween. Give me a second."

He finds the glasses in the back of his closet and hands them to Blaine. It's not much of a disguise, but with the way Blaine's hair is styled he now looks more like a hipster on his way to class than a wayward prince fleeing from his father. Kurt's phone vibrates on his nightstand, reminding him to throw his charger into his messenger bag.

 _Coast is clear. Do you want me to get him an Uber? - Santana_

 _I'm leaving with him. Don't ask me where we are going. - Kurt_

After throwing his charger into his bag along with his laptop and laptop charger, the only thing left to do is get dressed.

"Could you, um, could you turn around for a second?" he asks the Prince. It's ridiculous after spending the night with Blaine, but in the light of day, with the alcohol gone from his system, he feels shy and afraid that the Prince won't like what he sees when he isn't seeing Kurt's body through beer googles.

Blaine turns around, thankfully without commenting on Kurt's request. Kurt quickly puts on a fresh pair of underwear underneath a pair of comfortable, light blue jeans and a grey henley underneath a dark blue zip up hoody, nothing like the tight clothes he usually wears, but today comfort has to come first, when they have a 9 hour long drive to Lima ahead of them.

"Ready?" he asks the Prince when he's dressed and sees that the Prince has put his pants back on too.

"As I'll ever be."

Blaine carries his suitcase down the stairs while Kurt follows with his messenger bag and a shopping bag filled with shoes. Outside, the reporters, and to his relief Santana and Rachel too, are gone and Kurt leads Blaine to the subway stop on 157th street. They stop at an ATM where Kurt withdraws his daily limit - a measly 200 dollars - and tells Blaine to do the same.

"If your dad can just ask the CIA to track you, we can't use our credit cards once we're out of the city. Get as much money as you can get now."

While the Prince maxes out his debit and credit cards, Kurt texts his dad.

 _Don't be mad, but I might end up on the news. If anyone contacts you, don't comment. I'm coming to Ohio tonight but no one can know. I'll tell you everything once I get there. Love you, Kurt._

After purchasing a ticket for the Prince, they hop on a 1 train downtown and ride it till a 116th street surrounded by the unlucky crowd who starts work before nine o'clock. _Scandals_ is right around the corner from Columbia University, only a few minutes walk from the subway stop. Fortunately, Blaine's car is where he's left it the previous night, but he's already got a parking ticket. Kurt takes the ticket and throws it into the backseat of the black Audi A4 the Prince borrowed from a friend.

"You should let me drive, you know, because you don't have a license," he says practically salivating over the car. When it comes to cars, he's always been a typical boy and the car in front of him is just beautiful.

"Be my guest," Blaine hands him the keys and Kurt beams at him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

They are both quiet until Kurt drives them over George Washington Bridge into New Jersey and the Prince suddenly sings e _verything is legal in New Jersey._

"I love that musical," Kurt gushes, "but I've never seen it live. Rachel, she's actually in the ensemble, but not even she could get me tickets and so far I haven't had any luck with the ticket lottery."

"Is she?" Blaine asks. "Now I feel bad for not recognizing her."

"Only for the past two months and most people only pay close attention to the ensemble if they know someone who's in it."

"Oh, I saw it right after it premiered. I'll get you tickets once it's safe for you to go back to New York. That's the least I can do after making you part of my drama."

"There wouldn't be any drama if you'd never met me or my roommates, so it's not just your fault," Kurt protests. If he'd just gone home after _Scandals_ kicked them out instead of bringing home a stranger, neither of them would be sitting in an Ohio bound car right now. They probably should talk about that too because clearly Blaine had just been interested in a one night stand whereas Kurt wouldn't have been opposed to seeing 'Blake' again. Which reminds him of the reason why Blaine could only have one night stands in the past.

"Call her," he tells the Prince. From the corner of his eye he sees Blaine's hand shake as he unlocks his cellphone before dropping it back into his lap. "I can pull over somewhere if you'd like some privacy."

"I can't call her, I'm not strong enough," Blaine hangs his head. "Am I the worst person in the world if I text her instead."

"I gotta be honest, it's a shitty move, but I guess it's still better than not telling her at all."

Kurt keeps his eyes on the road as the Prince types out a message to his fiancée. If he were in her shoes and his fiancé dumped him over text, he would probably smash a few things, but Blaine of course was right when he said that they don't have a clue what his life is really like. It's easy to judge from his high horse because no one would ever pressure him to marry a woman and no one in his life has the power to do so. But Blaine isn't ordinary. He is second in line to the throne.

After finishing his long winded apology text, the Prince powers down his phone.

"No one can track it when it's turned off and Charlotte won't be able to yell at me," Blaine confesses. "I know I deserve it and at some point I'll have to meet her and apologize in person, but not yet." Kurt hums in agreement. "Can I use your phone to log onto Twitter?" the Prince continues.

"It's, um, in my jeans pocket," Kurt replies, his cheeks turning red. It's stupid considering what they got up to only a few hours ago.

"Can I take it out?" the Prince asks, probably sensing his unease.

When Kurt nods, Blaine slowly trails his fingertips up his thigh until they reach Kurt's pocket, reveling in the noise Kurt makes when he does so.

The smile on his face drops in a flash though when Kurt's phone comes to life with a breaking news alert.

 _Prince Blaine of America outed as homosexual - Prince caught on camera admitting his sexuality in the arms of a as of yet unidentified male_

All of a sudden his chest feels like someone dropped a boulder on top of it and Blaine struggles to breathe. "Pull over," he rasps, before putting his head between his knees and trying to remember the breathing exercises he was taught after his first panic attack when he was a teenager. Every single breath is a struggle as he envisions the Palace's media coordinator running through the marble halls to his father's office to inform him of Blaine's fuck up. He imagines his father's face turning red in anger and yelling for the Palace's security chief. _Find the ungrateful faggot,_ he imagines his father yelling, before picking up the phone to summon Cooper. He imagines the Palace staff tiptoeing around his father's office, the King known for his choleric episodes, as his father rages on.

"Focus on my voice," he hears Kurt instruct through a hazy fog and he latches on to Kurt's soothing timbre. "Deep breath in, hold it for a moment, deep breath out."

It takes him longer than ever before to calm down. He's had many panic attacks growing up as a closeted gay royal but never one as severe as this one.

"Thanks," he says hoarsely. Kurt hands him the phone he dropped when he couldn't breathe.

"Write your statement before the speculations start."

"I need to set up an account first. I'm not supposed to have social media accounts," Blaine admits and Kurt takes his phone from the Prince's shaking hand and gets to work.

"You're lucky, no one's set up an account in your name yet," Kurt says as he creates an account for the Prince. "Take off the glasses so I can take a picture."

Blaine's hands fly to his hair immediately. "Not like this." Kurt nods.

"That's what you look like in the video, it will help authenticate your account."

The Prince pouts but removes his hands from his hair and takes off the fake glasses he is still wearing. When Kurt's done with setting up Blaine's account, he hands his phone to the Prince.

"I have an app that lets you to write more than 140 characters."

Kurt tries to keep his eyes to himself while Blaine types out his statement. Unlike the text, he'll get to see it soon enough anyway. To his surprise Blaine hands him the phone before sending the statement.

"Is it okay?" he asks.

 _PrinceBlaine: I apologize to everyone I've hurt by lying about my sexuality. I will spend the next few days with my family who has not been privy to my internal struggle and has learnt my news from the media like everyone else. I owe it to them to withdraw myself from the public eye until we've had a chance to deal with my revelation as a family. Please direct all press inquiry at the Palace as I will not make another statement until I deem it necessary. I would also ask the press not to go looking for my friend, who was a shoulder to cry on when I needed it the most._

"Why are you lying about your family?"

"The public can never know that the King and his sons don't get along because the Crown is supposed to be the one constant in an ever changing country. We are supposed to be above petty fights and stand united in the face of political turmoil in our own country and the world at large. How I feel about my family should and has to be a private matter, and I implore you never to repeat what I told you to anyone. People either love or hate the monarchy, there's little in between that, but my private relationship with my father should have no bearing on how the people in this country view the Crown."

Blaine finishes his plea only to notice that Kurt's cheeks are flushed and he keeps wetting his lips.

"What?" Blaine asks and Kurt turns an even darker shade of red.

"You're just really hot when you talk all princely," Kurt admits, face tomato red.

"That turns you on?" Blaine asks astonished. "I'll keep it in mind for the future."

"Is there a future? For us, I mean," Kurt swallows around the lump in his throat and asks what he really wants to know.

"I," the Prince runs a hand through his unruly curls. "I'd like there to be one, because I like you a lot. I wouldn't have spent all night talking to you if all I was after was a quicky. I could have gotten that much faster with another guy. But I can't promise anything. My dad really has all the power and if he decides to cure me by sending me abroad I'll have to obey him."

They are still parked at the side of the road, car after car passing by, none knowing that here at the side of the road Prince Blaine is trying to make sense of his life.

"I never thought I'd ever say that, but then lets just stay in Ohio forever," Kurt jokes weakly as his brain finally catches up to whats going on. This isn't just asking out a guy he likes, this is potentially entering a relationship with a member of the royal family. He wouldn't be the first commoner - King Richard married a commoner and Prince Cooper has dated rich socialites in the past - but he would be the first openly homosexual commoner to date a royal. In the past, the paparazzi went mad every time Cooper had a new none royal girlfriend because it helped sell the narrative that everyone could potentially marry a future King. He can only try to imagine how crazy the yellow press will be over Prince Blaine's first homosexual relationship. From a PR stand point, Blaine should date anyone but Kurt, Kurt thinks bitterly. Not a boy who believes fashion has no gender and who's voice is high pitched in a way that often gets him a Mam on the phone. A boy who knows nothing about world politics and went to school for acting. If he were at least a successful actor, but all he is is a recent graduate with student loans up to his ears and not a single audition on the horizon. He sounds like a PR nightmare to his own ears. What was he thinking asking the Prince if they had a future together.

"Forget I asked. You should probably date someone from your world," he tells Blaine before turning the key in the ignition and getting back on the road.

"What's that supposed to mean, someone from my world?" the Prince asks indignantly. "If you mean royal, well as far as I know there are no openly gay royals, at least not in America. I went to school with a french Prince for a few years but he's a nightmare. Or if you're implying I'm too rich for you, haven't you been listening when I told you I have no money of my own, that I'm dependent on what my father gives me. I spent the past four years in the army, training with recruits from all walks of life, so don't call me a snob."

The Prince looks like he's going to cry again or punch something and Kurt doesn't know what to do. If they're already arguing like this, maybe they shouldn't try to date anyway.

"I just meant that you're a prince and I'm an unemployed wannabe actor who knows nothing of the world. I can't name a single European newspaper. I'm not even sure I can name 5 newspapers from our country. I guess you'd probably be better off dating someone smarter."

"You don't seem dumb to me, Kurt," the Prince assures him immediately. "All morning you've been coming up with the good ideas. And if you want to know more about history, geography or world politics I can tell you about them, but it's okay if you don't know those things. Cooper's future wife, yeah, she should know who's Queen of France and King of Italy, because she'll have to entertain foreign dignitaries, but I, if my father and the public can accept that I want to date a man, will be free do be with who I want."

"So you do want to date me?" Kurt asks.

"I do," the Prince says after a moment's hesitation. "So how about we use this time in Ohio to see if we are even compatible. Maybe, you'll hate me after being cooped up with me for a few days. Maybe I discover something about you that I can't accept?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, like, you ritually sacrifice bunnies and worship Satan."

"Are you religious?" Kurt asks? "I know you are a member of the Church of America, but do you also believe it all? Because I'm not, religious or a member of any church."

"I don't believe that there's some guy with a long white beard sitting on a throne made of clouds watching my every step to determine if one day I'm going to heaven or hell. But I believe things happen for a reason. Like there's a reason you were the first person I met at _Scandals._ And that you have a roommate who thought it was for the greater good to out me. I believe there has to be a reason why this happened and it just hasn't made itself clear yet."

"I'd call it bad judgment after copious amount of alcohol, but I'm happy you can have such an optimistic outlook on life even after what happened to you," Kurt says.

For a moment neither of them talks, the atmosphere heavy in the car. It's not how Kurt imagined this morning would go but then again, he didn't plan to have a one night stand either.

"Do you want to take a break from talking and just listen to some music?" he asks Blaine who perks up immediately.

"Do you have any Broadway?"

"Do I have any Broadway. Hello musical theater graduate. I don't think I have a single playlist on my phone that isn't Broadway."

"So I get to hear you sing?" Blaine is bouncing in his seat excitedly and Kurt wonders how he does it - going from super serious prince to excited puppy in seconds. Maybe he should take acting lessons from Blaine.

The first song that comes up is _Breathe_ from _In the Heights_ and Kurt really gets it how Nina feels because he's coming home a failure too. Not only will he have to tell his dad that the money for college was wasted money because Kurt will probably end up working some job you don't need a college education for and he will have to tell his father how he met the Prince and why there's a video of him in just his underwear. Oh joy.

"You promised to sing for me," Blaine brings him back from his musings and he realizes that he's missed half of the song already.

"I'm sorry, start it again."

Blaine keeps his eyes on Kurt's face the whole time he sings. His companion looks more relaxed than Blaine's ever seen him in the short amount of time he's known Kurt. Music relaxes him too, would be something he would pursue if he wasn't Prince Blaine. Fortunately, his education had included piano lessons from a young age, so when he was stressed he could play music. It was what he missed the most when he was overseas for his military training. His mom loved hearing him play and got him a Steinway for Richmond House. It probably won't be there anymore though when they get back to the city. His dad loves taking away things Blaine loves.

"You have a beautiful voice," he tells Kurt when he finishes the song. "I can't wait to see you perform on stage"

"I could still do that right, even if we end up dating?"

"You can do whatever you want. I would never expect you to stay home like a 50s housewife. Or my mom," he adds jokingly. "But she was born rich and was never interested in working anyway. Her ambition was to marry a King, and marry a King she did."

"I wanna be on Broadway, but I'm starting to think it will always be just a dream," Kurt confesses. "I can't even book auditions for off Broadway shows so how will I ever get to Broadway? Apparently, I'm just too strange - even for show business. I'm either not straight enough for straight roles, my voice isn't right for the good gay roles and I can't even get the stereotypical gay sidekick roles, there just for laughs and to prop up the main character."

"You could write your own roles if there aren't any good roles for you," Blaine suggests. "More and more people are doing it."

Kurt shakes his head sadly. "I'm no composer and there are five year olds who play the piano better than me. I tried to write a musical in high school about Pippa Middleton but it was a disaster. Didn't even finish the first act it was so bad."

"You'll find your way, I'm sure," Blaine smiles and tries not to think about how clueless he is about his own life. Cooper is learning how to rule from their father, but Blaine has no real purpose in life. He wanted to go back to college in the fall and get his degree but there's no way his dad will let him do that now. He could of course do what his mother does, flit from charity function to charity function to show off fabulous outfits while other people donate money, but he wants more than that. He wants to help people, really help them. Not just donate money to a charity, he'd want to be personally involved.

"You will too," Kurt says as if he can read Blaine's mind. "And if your dad is as smart as our 'benevolent leader' pretends to be than he'll also realize that you're so much more than your sexuality."

"Sing another song for me," Blaine changes the subject. "What's the most difficult song you can sing?"

"I don't know about most difficult but people are always impressed when I hit the high notes in _Defying Gravity,"_ Kurt says and Blaine's eyes bulge.

"You can sing _Defying Gravity_ in its original key." Kurt nods. "Holy shit. Those casting agents must be tone deaf if they don't hire you on the spot when you can do that."

Kurt's cheek flush prettily from the compliment and Blaine makes a note to compliment Kurt more often.

"You haven't even heard me sing it yet," Kurt blushes before the opening notes start and Kurt blows Blaine's mind.

"Wow! Like I said, all tone deaf casting directors."

Kurt smiles so wide he's sure all his teeth are on display.

"Coffee break? And as much as I abhor them, I need to use the restroom too," he asks the Prince when a food exit is announced in 2 miles, his throat a little dry from singing without a proper warm up first. Better not tell his voice coach that he sang _Defying Gravity_ without warming up his voice first.

"Glasses," he reminds Blaine when he pulls into a parking lot next to a Bagel store, praying that the toilets will be cleaner there than at the gas station. Which reminds him that they probably should fill up the tank too while they're taking a break.

"Why don't you use the toilet and I'll get us coffee and bagels," the Prince suggests and Kurt accepts gratefully.

"Can you just get me a big black coffee. I'm feeling much better since I took that aspirin, but I have a feeling that I shouldn't actually be driving yet," Kurt confesses knowing that Blaine was just as drunk as he was only hours earlier.

"I totally forgot about that with all the chaos," Blaine admits. "Should we take a longer break or rent a room so you can lay down for a bit?"

Kurt shakes his head. "I don't think I'm going to feel really safe until we've made it to my dad's and he's expecting us tonight. I can't tell him that I drove for an hour only to realize that my blood alcohol level might still be a tiny bit over the legal limit. He owns a car shop where he gets wrecks all the time - he'd kill me."

"As long as you're sure you're okay to drive. I would offer to drive instead but I drank just as much and I don't even have a license."

Kurt quickly takes care of business in a thankfully clean bathroom before switching with Blaine.

"Be honest," he says as they walk back to the car, coffee in hand and bagels in a paper bag, "would you even get arrested or let off with a warning?"

"Oh definitely arrested, mostly to prove that the royal family doesn't get preferential treatment in all aspects of their lives. My family's publicist is very good about keeping it out of the papers though. Or did you hear about the one time my brother got arrested for smoking pot in a public park idiot that he is. My dad was so mad, he threatened to make me the next King instead. Obviously that was before he found out I'm a faggot."

"Don't call yourself that," Kurt admonishes between bites from his cream cheese bagel. "And no, I haven't heard about that."

"That's how good Sue Sylvester is," Blaine nods. "If I had time to warn her she probably would have been able to make the video go away as well or convince everyone that the person with the crazy hair was definitely destined for the loony bin but not the Prince."

"You really would have gone through with it, wouldn't you? You would have married your girlfriend just to keep your family happy no matter how unhappy you would have been yourself."

Blaine shrugs helplessly. "It's how I was raised. The Crown always has to come first."

The Prince stays in the car while Kurt fills up the tank and keeps his head down as he pays in cash. There are two women in their late forties sitting at the counter discussing the royal scandal while Kurt pays and he lingers a moment longer to hear what they're saying.

"The morning news said the Palace tried to spin it as the Prince spending some time with friends from boarding school but then the Prince himself tweeted and now they're pretending everything's okay and the family's speaking with the Prince right now. Wouldn't be surprised if he comes out after saying that he was just nervous about his wedding and confused feelings of friendship with love. Wouldn't be the first celebrity to try to pull that shit. Should have heard my son this morning, saying now that the Prince's gay it's okay that I'm gay, right mom. It's not me he has to convince, he was always alright in my book."

Kurt heads back with a smile on his face and reports to Blaine what he overheard in the gas station.

"See, you're already helping people and your news is barely three hours old."

"I guess," Blaine nods. "And at least the Palace isn't publicly looking for me. Wouldn't sound good if they had to admit that they lost me."

"I won't get in trouble for taking you out of the city, right? Like, there's no rule that says you can't be out and about without a security guard?"

Blaine shakes his head. "I'm not supposed to be out without security, but there's no actual law that says I'm required to have a personal guard like Cooper. I have security for big, public events but as long as Cooper is the Crown Prince, my safety is not that important. And until this morning, barely anyone knew I was back from overseas. I begged my mom not to release a statement when I got back so I could enjoy the city for a bit without being stalked by paparazzi. I'm afraid that's going to change now though once I get back to the city."

Kurt wonders what it will mean for him, once the media finds out who he is. Will paparazzi follow him too or will he be able to just go back to his old life? He never thought about fame the way some of his classmates do. He doesn't want to be on stage to become famous, he wants to be on stage because he loves performing more than anything in the world. And if he ever became famous, he always assumed it would be for his work and not for a one night stand with a member of the royal family. Maybe he and Blaine can say they've been going out for a while already, but he doesn't know how long he and the Prince were followed the night before. If one of the reporters already followed Blaine into the bar, then it would be hard to deny that the Prince picked him up at _Scandals._ Scandals indeed.

They are nearing Pittsburg when Kurt's dad calls and Kurt accepts the call through the inbuilt hands free system.

"Hi dad," Kurt says quietly trying not to wake the Prince who's fallen asleep a few miles back.

"Kurt," his dad says and he sounds pissed. "Care to explain why in addition to half a dozen royal guards there are reporters from the Columbus Sun at my house." _Oh oh._

"Not particularly," Kurt winces. "At least not over the phone. I assume you're not alone."

"Uh, uh. So the guards want to know where you are and the press would like to know how long my son's been sleeping with Prince Blaine because there are rumors that he picked you up at a bar last night. I already told the guard that you're either in New York or visiting that crazy friend of yours Showbaby in Pennsylvania."

"Starchild," Kurt corrects automatically, silently thanking his dad for thinking on his toes and vowing to turn off his cellphone as soon as the call is over.

"What I'd like to know is why reporters think you took Prince Blaine home with you last night."

"Because I did." There's no use denying it if it's already a rumor that's circulating.

"Because he lost his keys and you decided to help him out."

"Oh my god, Dad. Do I really have to say it. But if it helps I didn't know who he was when I took him home." _And now think about that sentence again, Kurt. "_ Shit, I mean I didn't know he was the Prince, he gave me a fake name."

"And you took him home, Jesus Christ kiddo, have you lost your mind. He could have been a murderer and a thief, what were you thinking?" Kurt winces and next to him Blaine stirs.

Kurt reflexively presses a hand over Blaine's mouth because if the royal guards are listening in, they can't hear the Prince in his car.

"So you are making me say it," he replies through gritted teeth. "I went to a bar, I met a cute guy, we got drunk together, we went back to my place and had sex. In the morning I found out he was the Prince when reporters showed up at my building. Happy."

"Try again. And trust me, the next time I see you in person, we'll talk about how I've raised you better than this. If I have to come to New York to do it. In the meantime, what did you do with the Prince?"

"He went home once the reporters left. Said he'll give me a call at some point, but I doubt it. There's a reason they call them one night stands," Kurt winces again as he says it but if it helps get the royal guards off his dad's property he'll be direct for a moment.

Next to him, Blaine's eyes are wide, having cottoned on to the fact that Kurt's talking to his dad.

"Like I said, we'll talk about that the next time I see you. Before I let you go, we've finally managed to find a buyer for your grandfather's lake house. I'll probably head up there some time soon to make sure there's nothing in there that we want to keep."

"Okay. I didn't…" Kurt stops himself, realizing that his dad's telling him where to go instead of the house. "I didn't think you'll find someone before the summer. I would have loved to go there one last time." _He hates that place._

"Alright, give my best to your friends and we'll talk soon."

As soon as his dad hangs up, Kurt turns off his phone.

"Did you really just tell your dad that you don't think I'll call you because it was just a one night stand?" Blaine asks incredulously.

"There are royal guards at my dad's place who were listening in on the call. Officially, they're looking for me because they can't say they're looking for you. Dad told them I'm visiting a friend who lives near Pittsburg actually. Too bad we can't drop by, it's been months since I've last seen him," Kurt sighs.

Blaine's face falls. "So we can't go to your house either. Maybe you should just drop me off at the next motel and I'll call the Palace myself. I don't want your family to get into trouble."

"It's okay. My dad said we should head to the lake house he inherited from his father. It's on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo. No electricity or hot water but it should be safe."

"Sounds great. No electricity means no phones to track and a lake to jump in sounds heavenly right about now."

Neither of them showered this morning because there was no time nor have they done so the previous night. It's surprising they don't stink, at least Kurt doesn't think they do.

"We didn't bring any swim trunks," Kurt points out causing Blaine to chuckle. "What?"

"That's the biggest problem? We'll just wait until it's dark and skinny dip."

"I can't go skinny dipping," Kurt sputters. "What if someone sees us."

"Eh, what's one more scandal today," Blaine laughs almost hysterically. He should probably go back to sleep and rest for a few more hours, but so should Kurt.

"I need to stop for another coffee. Stay in the car," he instructs the Prince.

"Can you get me a latte and any sandwich that doesn't look totally disgusting and doesn't have mayo in it," Blaine asks after he stops laughing.

"When was the last time you got food from a gas station?" Kurt teases him. "The only things I can get you are with mayo _and_ disgusting. I'll get us fries at the next fast food chain we pass. That's always the safest food when you drive across the country."

"You're the expert," Blaine smiles easily and Kurt fights the urge to lean over and kiss the Prince again. They're too exposed in a gas station parking lot with their faces all over the internet.

"Be right back," he promises before he walks swiftly into the gas station and orders two coffees.

He's on his way out, wallet tucked underneath his armpit so he has his hands free to carry the hot coffees when he bumps into a young man about Kurt's age who's eyes widen in what seems to be recognition.

"I, I know you," the guy stutters. "You are in that video with the Prince."

"What video?" Kurt asks, putting on an Oscar worthy performance if you ask him. "I've been driving up from Florida since last night and my phone's died a while ago."

"Oh," the guy's face falls. "I thought you were him. There's a video in which the Prince admits his gay."

"No way," Kurt exclaims, eyes wide. "Which one?"

"The younger one. I was going to tell you how jealous I am that you got to hook up with the Prince."

"I wish I were that guy," Kurt jokes, "but alas. Thanks for telling me."

He leaves the young man looking after him with a puzzled expression on his face and hurries back to the car, trying not to spill the coffees in his haste.

"Don't look up," he tells Blaine when he opens the door for Kurt from the inside. "Some guy recognized me and I'm not 100% sure I convinced him it's not me."

Blaine takes the coffees and puts Kurt's into the coffee holder in the middle console, his eyes fixed on the floor the whole time until they're back on the interstate.

As promised, Kurt drives them through a drive thru half an hour later and once they are back on the road, Blaine starts feeding him fries so they can eat and continue their journey at the same time. Kurt tries not to jump out of his skin when a fry drops in his lap and Blaine picks it up, his hand lingering a bit longer than strictly necessary.

"Are you trying to get me to crash the car?" Kurt asks, cheeks heating up.

"To be honest, that's the only reason why I haven't tried to blow you yet. I'm a little afraid we'd end up in a ditch."

Kurt promptly chokes on a bit of fry in his mouth. He's not used to guys being so blunt - at least not when they're sober. His first boyfriend had turned out to be a cheating Lothario, but he'd never talked dirty to Kurt. Not that he considers what Blaine's saying dirty talk, he's not that naive.

"Maybe later," he forces himself to reply, because the thought of Blaine's head between his legs for a second time makes his blood rush south.

"Yay, skinny dipping and blow jobs - sounds like my kind of night," Blaine claps excitedly. The Prince sounds so much happier already now that he can be open about himself and Kurt tells him so.

"I guess," Blaine says. "But there've always been guys I could be myself with. As long as they were in the closet too I could safely hook up with them. Because if they had talked, I would have taken them down with me."

"Oh," Kurt says because for some reason he thought that closeted prince equalled abstinent prince. "Did you, um, hook up with a lot of guys? I mean, obviously you don't have to tell me."

"It's okay, I'm not ashamed of it. Probably around twenty, so not that many. You must have had suitors too. Just look at you."

"I haven't had much luck dating," Kurt confesses. "And after my first boyfriend turned out to be a lying, cheating asshole I didn't want to for quite a while. Most guys I've met since were just interested in a hook up and - I'm not judging you - but that's not for me. I've never just hooked up with a guy before I met you."

"Why did you?" the Prince asks sincerely not like he's fishing for compliments.

"I'm not sure. You were cute, nice and funny, you didn't pressure me to hook up in the bar and the many Gin and Tonics and the tequila shots probably had something to do with it as well," he says honestly.

"Well, one of the first things you told me was a story about that horrible guy who'd ask you to join him in the bathroom for a quicky. I couldn't tell you that I'd basically approached you because you were hot and sitting by yourself. But then we started talking and I didn't want to just hook up and leave because I really enjoyed talking to you."

 _I'm glad you didn't hit on me when we met,_ Kurt thinks. _I would have told you to fuck off if you had._

Once they are done with their food - Blaine opting for a Big Mac with his fries because as a kid growing up in the Palace he was never allowed fast food - he throws the wrappers into the back of the car. At some point he should probably text Wes whose car they are currently driving through Pennsylvania, but his friend from boarding school in England is currently trekking through South America as a last hooray before he starts his law career. Right now, Wes is probably the only friend who hasn't heard the news yet and Blaine wonders how many friends he still has now that his sexuality is out in the open.

The sun is still high up in the sky when Kurt stops the car next to a small cabin a few hours later. The Prince is holding a family sized meatlovers pizza that they've picked up on the way to the cabin, the mouth watering smell filling the car for the past fifteen minutes. Kurt climbs out of the car first and gets the key from its hiding place under a rock Kurt had painted when he was young and his mom still alive. After making sure no one else is around he unlocks the door and motions for Blaine to join him.

Kurt's late grandfather's cabin consists of a kitchen - dinning - living room area, a toilet, small bedroom with a queen sized bed and another bedroom with two bunk beds. Blaine immediately falls in love with the outdoor shower that Kurt hated the most whenever they spent time at the lake even though it's shielded from the neighbors and whoever else is in the cabin.

"I think it's cool. You can look out at the lake while you shower but no one can see you," Blaine gushes.

"So what first?" Kurt teases him after unloading the car. "Pizza, shower, blow job or skinny dipping?"

"Definitely pizza first, I'm starving. Then blow job in the shower and skinny dipping when it gets dark," the Prince grins and grabs the first slice of pizza.

They eat their pizza out on the porch overlooking the lake, watching the sailboats slowly head back for shore and a lone swimmer practicing his backstroke. Both of the neighboring cabins seem empty and Kurt and Blaine enjoy the quiet after the day they've had. They eat the whole pizza and when they're done, Blaine offers him his hand to help him up.

"So, about that shower. Are you going to join me?" the Prince asks.

Kurt only hesitates for a moment before he nods because he'd be crazy to say no to this. Blaine's already seen him naked and the sex couldn't have been too bad if the Prince's that interested in an encore. Still, he can't stop his cheeks from flushing when Blaine grabs him by the hand and starts stripping as soon as they are in the outdoor shower area. He turns the water on while Kurt follows suit more slowly - there is a difference between taking your clothes off drunk and doing so sober - and steps under the spray.

"It's not cold, why is it not cold?"

"Solar panels," Kurt points to the roof and joins the Prince. "My dad installed them a few years ago so we could use the cabin all year.

The water's not as hot as he usually likes it, but it's still very warm outside and he is sharing the shower with a gorgeous man, so Kurt doesn't complain. The Prince lets him wash his hair while he runs his soapy hands all over Kurt's body and Kurt decides to stop thinking and just enjoy. His brain fully shuts down when after their hair and bodies are clean, the Prince sinks to his knees in front of Kurt and makes good on his promise.

It's even better than last night, Kurt thinks, when the Prince hums around him and Kurt lets out an embarrassingly loud moan, praying that they really are alone.

"Holy shit, Blaine," he cries out, and it's the first time he's called the Prince by his name even though he's had permission to do so for hours, but it's easier in the throws of passion.

His hands are back in the Prince's hair and Kurt's so close he's shaking when he's hit by a metaphorically bucket of ice.

"Kiddo, you out back?"

* * *

Responsible adult PSA: Don't drive a car if you've been out drinking all night and only got like 4 hours of sleep

Also, if I haven't responded to a review yet know that I very much appreciate them and I'll try to do it tomorrow


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Oh how he wishes for an actual bucket of ice cold water, because while he's shoved the kneeling prince off of him on autopilot, his dick hasn't gotten the memo yet that Kurt's dad is looking for him and he's so close that a few strokes would probably be enough to finish him off.

"I'll be right out," he yells, his voice nearly an octave higher than usual, and looks at the Prince who looks up at him through wide eyes framed by those ridiculously long lashes Kurt finds so hot.

But they can't finish - not with his dad in the next room that would be… He doesn't get to finish the thought because Blaine's mouth is on him, kissing him deep and dirty while his hand wraps around Kurt's dick and Kurt was right, he only needs a few more strokes. He moans into Blaine's mouth as he comes, holding onto the Prince's shoulders because suddenly staying upright seems like the hardest thing in the world. Speaking of hard. Blaine's dick is digging into his hip and Kurt wants to take care of him too, but he needs to get out of the shower and prepare his dad for his visitor. Kurt kisses Blaine one last time, before he has to pull back.

"Join us when you are ready," he whispers and wraps one of the towels he's brought outside around his waist. "You can wear whatever fits from my bag."

Towel securely around his middle, he hurries into his parents' bedroom where he dropped off his suitcase and dresses quickly in a black T-shirt and black yoga pants. His wet hair is hanging limp over his forehead and his face is probably still flushed from his orgasm when he meets his dad in the kitchen and is pulled into a bone crushing hug that surprises him after how mad his dad sounded on the phone.

"You okay? No one gave you any trouble getting here?" his dad asks and Kurt nods.

"Good," his dad releases him and they sit down at the kitchen table. "Whose car is that outside? Looks expensive for a rental."

"Oh I," Kurt starts but he doesn't know who it belongs to. "A friend of Blaine's I think?"

His dad's eyebrows shoot up and Kurt braces himself for an explosion.

"You think? You've been driving a car from New York and you don't know who it belongs to? And didn't you say you've had no contact with the Prince since this morning."

To his surprise, his dad sounds more confused than angry.

"Yeah, about that. I only said that because I knew someone was listening to the call. The guards, they weren't really looking for me, they were looking for him."

"You've lost me here, kiddo, I thought he was back at the Palace."

It's the sound of a second pair of feet walking into the room that has his dad turn around and come face to face with the Prince. The Prince who's dressed in a Hummel's Tires and Lube shirt over a pair of Kurt's jeans rolled up at the ankle. Kurt rolls his eyes while his dad gapes at the Prince. _You tell a guy he can wear whatever he wants and he picks the one shirt that tells your dad he isn't wearing his own clothes,_ Kurt thinks as his dad eyes the prince in Kurt's clothes before he seems to remember who he's dealing with and bows his head.

"Your Highness, I wasn't aware you are here too," his dad stammers. "I'm Burt Hummel, Kurt's father."

"Please call me Blaine," the Prince smiles at his dad and offers his hand to shake. "And thanks for letting us stay here while this thing blows over."

His dad eyes the Prince wearily for a moment before he asks, "Do you drink Scotch, Blaine?"

He uses a chair to open one of the kitchen cabinets and grabs a bottle hidden in the back. Kurt takes the bottle from his dad and lets Blaine carry the glasses his dad hands to him outside to the porch where they sit down on the steps leading down to the lake.

"Is Kurt going to get into trouble for hiding you here?" is the first thing his dad asks after filling their glasses. Blaine shakes his head.

"No, it's just me who'll be in trouble. For now, just with my dad but if the prime minister is informed then there'll probably be an official hearing because I'm not allowed to leave the state without telling anyone where I'm going."

"Can't you call your folks and tell them that you're okay? I'm sure they're worried about you," his dad frowns and finishes his glass. Kurt takes one sip of the burning liquid and puts the glass down.

"I think I had enough to drink last night," he winces and pushes the glass toward Blaine who shakes his head as well.

"They'd track the call and send the guards after me and I'm not ready to see my dad. He's not like you Mr. Hummel."  
"Well, I'd say. He's the King," Burt jokes but the smile on his face disappears quickly when he sees that the Prince is barely holding it together. "I take it your dad isn't happy you're gay. If that's what you are? I don't want to assume but with you and my son," his dad trails off awkwardly and Kurt wishes the ground would swallow him whole even though it's his own damn fault that his dad knows about the one night stand. Though is it still a one night stand now that they've had sex again?

Blaine nods. "The last time he caught me with a boy, I was shipped off to the army for four years. I don't know what he'll do now that everyone knows about it and I don't wanna find out."

"For what it's worth, you can stay here for as long as you need. My wife Carole gave me some food for Kurt and once those guards are gone, you can come and stay with us in Lima. But I still think you should send a message to your family so they know you're safe."

Blaine knows that Kurt's dad is probably right but unlike Mr. Hummel who seems to think that if Blaine just told his family he's okay they'll stop looking for him, he knows better. The guards won't stop looking for him until he's back at the Palace unless Blaine comes up with a plan on how to deal with the King.

"If you let me borrow your phone, Mr. Hummel, I'll email my brother. We both have secure email accounts that no one should be able to hack."

"Be my guest," Burt hands the Prince his smartphone. "Kurt, why don't you help me unload the car in the meantime."

Kurt reluctantly follows his dad around the house, not wanting to face the music just yet.

"Okay, what's going on? Why does the Prince have to hide from his family? And what's that video everyone is talking about? It's not a sex thing is it? Please tell me it's not," his dad doesn't waste time.

"Oh my god, Dad," Kurt turns bright red. "It's not a sex tape, I promise."

"Then what is it?" His dad hands him a cooler while he takes a bag with bread, pasta and rice. Bare necessities.

"I emailed this theater that's doing _Bare_ my headshot asking for an audition and they wrote back that I wasn't what they're looking for. Not, 'sorry we're not holding open auditions', but 'you are not what we're looking for'. It's basically a gay musical, Dad, so how could I not have been what they were looking for. They didn't even hear me sing or saw me act. So I decided to go out and get drunk. I met a guy who seemed nice, we talked and drank all night, he went home with me, I convinced him not to take off in the middle of the night so I wouldn't feel so cheap, then I wake up a few hours later and he's freaking out because there are reporters in front of my apartment building. He comes clean, tells me he has to stay in the closet for the rest of his life, Santana comes home and tells me the reporters are looking for a guy that looks like me, she wakes Rachel, chaos breaks out, Blaine has a nervous breakdown, Santana films him and sends it to the media because it's going to help gay kids everywhere if even a prince can be gay, Blaine freaks out even more, says he can't go home because his dad will send him to Iran or some place like that, so here we are. Hiding him away from his family," Kurt finishes his run through of everything that's happened in the last twenty-four hours which is crazy when he listens to himself.

"Santana did that?" his dad furrows his brows. "Wasn't she outed on KWL when you were in high school." Kurt nods.

"She insists it turned out to be a good thing in the end and that it will be for Blaine as well."

His dad's frown intensifies.

"I know, crazy, right."

He puts the cooler underneath the sink before putting the pasta and rice into the cabinets. Blaine's were they left him on the porch, Kurt's dad's phone lying next to him.

"You okay?" Kurt asks and sits back down next to the Prince.

"I honestly don't know. Obviously, I can't hide in Ohio forever, but I haven't come up with a plan yet that doesn't involve telling the world what a homophobic asshole my dad is and that I'm hiding because I'm afraid of what he'll do to me."

"Could you maybe give an interview and lie about how supportive your dad is? You could maybe thank him for letting you continue your education in New York. That's what you wanna do, right?"

"An interview like that would never see the light of day, Sue would make sure of it."

"We could record you on my phone and send it to the media."

"No," the Prince shakes his head. "Any further statements have to come from Palace approved media channels. Anything else would only cause speculations about my relationship with my family. It would look too much like I'm defying my family by releasing stuff guerrilla style. There's a reason why I'm not supposed to have social media accounts, Kurt. With Santana's video I can credibly argue that it was taken and released without my consent because look at me in that video. I would never have appeared to the public like that. But any further statements have to be released by the Palace. And anything concerning me has to be approved by my father. I couldn't give an official interview without his express permission."

"Bet you're mightily glad your dad's just a plain old mechanic," Kurt's dad returns from the kitchen area, eyebrows raised.

"I've always been proud of you," Kurt protests. "You got your own business and you're on the city council - why wouldn't I be proud to have you as my dad?"

Blaine watches the ease with which Kurt and his dad interact and it makes tears well up in his eyes. It's been such an emotionally draining day, but after crying in front of the whole nation he refuses to do it in front of Kurt's dad. He needs to prove that he can be strong, because whatever's going to happen in the coming weeks, it won't be easy for Kurt either if wants to stay by Blaine's side. And even if they decide to part ways, the media would probably still try to dig up dirt on him so their readers and viewers can know who that guy is that had a one night stand with the Prince. Sex sells and of all the scandals he could have caused, he just had to cause a sex scandal, Blaine berates himself. Because this won't just be about his sexuality, this will turn into a discussion about his lose morals, especially since the Palace only recently announced his engagement to Charlotte. Blaine himself heard about the development from the media, but Charlotte was on board and had given his dad the go ahead. But their engagement also told everyone that Charlotte is a virgin and he could just imagine what some tabloids would say. The poor woman who saved herself for marriage while her boyfriend of five years slept with strange men behind her back. No one expected him to be a virgin when he married, he was supposed to get it out of his system so to speak, before he settled down, but be discreet about it. And being caught half naked in the arms of an equally half naked man - there was nothing discreet about that. And who knows what else the reporters had if they followed him and Kurt all night. For a moment he considers checking Mr. Hummel's phone for news about him and Kurt, but it's probably better for their sanity if they don't check right now.

"Are you staying here tonight, Mr. Hummel?" Blaine asks trying not to make it sound like he's trying to get rid off Kurt's dad but Kurt did promise him skinny dipping and then hopefully another round of sex. They should take advantage of the time they still have together in case it's all over soon.

"Nah, would probably look suspicious if I didn't come back and I don't wanna leave Carole alone to deal with the media circus. They've been asking us some pretty intimate questions about you."

Kurt sighed. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this Dad. All I wanted was to go out and forget about that stupid email. Just have a little fun."

"I've already told you that I disapprove of this kind of behavior," his dad says and and fixes the Prince with a disapproving stare as well. "Your High-, Blaine. You were lucky too that it was Kurt who took you home."

Kurt looks at his dad like he's lost his mind because what is he trying to say?

"I think what the two of you were doing, that's dangerous. How do you know you're not going to get robbed or murdered if you go home with a stranger? Especially when you're drunk."

There's a reason, Carole always kicked his dad out of the living room when _Sex and the City_ was on, Kurt thinks.

"How did Carole know you weren't gonna hurt her when she went home with you after one of your dates. Dating someone first doesn't guarantee that you won't get hurt.," Kurt points out, remembering his high school geography teacher who wouldn't leave her husband even after he beat her again and again. "And I wouldn't hook up with someone I couldn't overpower if necessary, no offense," he adds for Blaine's benefit. But the Prince shakes his head.

"Don't think I'm weak just because I'm not super tall. I'm a trained fighter, you couldn't overpower me unless I let you."

"We'll have to test that some time," Kurt harrumphs and his dad clears his throat.

"Maybe keep the flirting down while I'm here. And Blaine's proving my point."

"Maybe we should just stop talking about it," Kurt suggests because this feels too much like the sex talk his dad gave him when he was sixteen and his dad said _you matter, Kurt, don't throw yourself around._

But sleeping with Blaine didn't feel like throwing himself around even when he thought it was just a one time thing. He's always associated it with only having hook ups because you think you don't deserve better, but he knows that he does and that's why he hasn't hooked up before. Not with the men he went to coffee with because they didn't think he was worth a proper dinner. All they wanted was a quick exchange of basic information and then off to the next bathroom or whoever's place was closest. Blaine - Blake spent a whole night talking to Kurt, never asking for anything else and if Kurt didn't invite him over they probably would have gone their separate ways and Blaine wouldn't have resented him for it. He hooked up with Blake because like he told his father, Blake was good looking, nice and funny and he was respectful, asking Kurt if he could kiss him and giving him time to say no. He didn't hook up with Blake because he felt like he owed him something, it just sounded like a fun night. And between two consenting adults - there was nothing wrong with a little fun.

"Because I get it, Dad, you don't like it that I slept with a stranger, but you're my Dad and it's pretty much in your job description to disapprove."

"Okay, okay," his dad raises his hands in surrender. "I'll stop nagging you about it. You're a grown up and you make your own choices. I may not always like them, but I'll always support you. And that's why I'm not going to ask if the two of you know what you are doing. You'll let me know when you've figured it out, and I'll let you know when it's save to come to Lima."

His dad shakes hands with the Prince and Kurt follows him outside to his pickup truck.

"Thanks Dad." His dad sighs.

"Just be careful, kiddo, okay. Because you said it yourself, he wouldn't have called you if he hadn't been outed. And now the two of you are stuck together for the foreseeable future. I'm not saying you can't date him, if that's what the two of you want, but think about it. Really think things through, because as much as he insists on being called Blaine and telling us not to bow, his father is the King of this country and if you get involved with him the whole world will look at you. You'll never have any privacy again. It's more than dating a celebrity because not all people follow that, but everyone's eye is always on the Palace just waiting for one of them royals to screw up."

"I, I know, Dad, but we wanna try and see if we still like each other after spending a few days together or if we better part ways. I think I could really like him, but you're right, I don't know enough about him to make any decisions yet. I'm not in love with him, I only just met him, and if doesn't work out it won't break my heart, but I want to give it a try. And hey, it will probably make me look less like a floozy if we actually give dating a try."

"I should probably close the shop tomorrow," his dad grumbles and Kurt feels guilty all over again for dragging his family into this even though none of this is his fault and he wonders if Santana even considered what this would mean for him and if she had if she just didn't care. He'll call her when he's less angry and his phone isn't tracked anymore.

"Damn reporters, should give them a piece of my mind."

"Please, don't. Maybe if you don't say anything, the press will think they got the wrong family."

"With that many guards at my house, there's no denying this, kiddo," his dad sighs and wraps an arm around Kurt's shoulder. Kurt leans against him for a moment before he kisses his dad's cheek.

"Drive safe."

He watches his dad's pick up truck back out of the driveway and walks back to the porch where Blaine is holding a glass filled with Scotch, swirling around the content as he looks out at the lake pensively.

"I guess your father hates me too," the Prince says after a moment of silence and Kurt sits back down next to him.

"He doesn't hate you, he just wishes my life wasn't suddenly so complicated, and you know, that I didn't sleep with handsome strangers," he adds with a smile and Blaine laughs.

It's nice to hear him laugh. The Prince has a very nice laugh. They sit close together on the porch while the sun goes down and Kurt's nearly asleep when the Prince leans even closer to whisper in his ear.

"Do you think it's dark enough already to go skinny dipping?"

It won't be the craziest thing he's done in the last twenty-four hours and so Kurt doesn't protest when Blaine leads him toward the little jetty his dad build a few years ago, pulling his borrowed shirt off as he goes. The only lights comes from the stars and a boat far enough away that they shouldn't be seen and so he follows the Prince's lead and strips off his clothes. Holding Blaine's hand, they jump into the lake together, Kurt shrieking because the water's still pretty cold and Blaine splashing him with it as soon as Kurt's head surfaces, but he relishes in the carefree moment, because he isn't stupid. It's not gonna stay this way; they can't hide and play house forever. Soon they would have to face the public and Blaine's family. The next days would show if together or on their own.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** So, yeah, the boys started talking and then they just wouldn't stop... But I didn't want to split this up since this is just one day in their lives.

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

The Prince is still asleep in his parents' bedroom when Kurt drags a blanket out onto the porch the next morning, the sun only just coming up. It's his dad's words that woke him up early and as much as he wants to go back to bed and have yet another round of spectacular sex, he knows that he needs to start thinking about the future. Also, he didn't pack any condoms for their flight from the city and the Prince only had the one in his wallet. So maybe it's for the best if they take a break from sex. Because they already know they are compatible in bed - drunk and sober. But if he's going to date Prince Blaine, than great sex alone won't be enough to make the relationship work. Because his dad is right, if he gets involved with the Prince, all eyes will be on them. They won't be able to navigate the early stages of a relationship like a regular couple. There won't be any dates in romantic little restaurants where they try to figure out if they like each other enough for a second or third date. That they've already slept together isn't the issue - plenty of people meet through a hook up and manage to have fulfilling, long term relationships - but Kurt and the Prince, they will never be able to be just themselves in public. And until the media loses interest in Blaine's scandal they won't be able to go back to Kurt's apartment either. Maybe he'll even have to move. He'll definitely have to change his phone number because he's sent his contact info to every theater in the city and by now, someone willing to make a quick buck will probably have sold it to the press already. His Facebook account is limited to close friends only and even if someone betrayed him there shouldn't be anything on there that he's ashamed of. Mostly because his dad and Carole have guilt tripped him into adding them as friends so they could be a part of his life in the city. The same goes for his twitter account. Kurt rarely tweets himself and when he had it was mostly retweeting Broadway videos. He's made a point of keeping his social media clean - never posting any political opinions or drunk party pictures - because what if he did manage to become a well-known actor and then someone hacked his Facebook account? Not even his sexuality is on Facebook because while he's always been open about it, it makes it harder for him to get auditions when people know he's gay before they've even met him. Ben could talk to the press, but Kurt did nothing wrong in that relationship. It wasn't him who was unfaithful. And he waited almost five months before he slept with his steady boyfriend for the first time. And any other guy claiming to have slept with him, Kurt could sue for slander.

It's not unreasonable to think about those things because every time Prince Cooper had a new girlfriend, the yellow press interviewed everyone from her elementary school teachers to the guy she was dating before the Prince. And the press has already shown up at his dad's house so it's only a matter of time before they try to dig up dirt on Kurt if they haven't already. Unfortunately, he's pretty sure that both his and Blaine's phones are being tracked by the Palace so he can't go online to see for himself how bad it is.

"Can't sleep?" the Prince joins him on the porch wrapped in another blanket. Kurt shakes his head.

"I've been thinking. What will happen to me if we decide that those last two days were fun, but that's it. Would you release a statement? Or would I be allowed to do so?"

"Sue would probably blackmail you to sign a NDA, but yeah, If my dad permits it I'd probably release a statement apologizing for my 'lapse in judgment', admit to the one night stand, record some PSA about the dangers of sleeping with strangers and ask the public for forgiveness. I assume the press would lose interest in you quickly, but probably not before writing a few articles about the guy who hooked up with the Prince. Because unless I was recorded giving you a fake name, everyone will assume you knew who I was when you hit on me at _Scandals."_

"I didn't hit on you," Kurt protests and Blaine shrugs.

"It would make a better story. 'Young actor seduces prince and gets dumped after one night together.' Don't tell me you wouldn't read that."

Kurt wants to deny it, but yeah, he'd read a story like that. It's not Rachel's name on their _Royal News_ subscription.

"And if we start dating, what would it be then? 'Wannabe actor seduces prince in hope of scoring parts." Kurt asks bitterly, because this is what it will come down to.

From now on, any role he gets offered he'll always wonder if it's because he's earned it or because he's sleeping with the Prince.

Blaine hangs his head in shame. Because Kurt's right, the press will treat him so much worse then Blaine. First of all, because Sue will make sure nothing bad will be published about him and secondly, because Kurt's a commoner, not even a rich one from what he knows about Kurt's family. He'll be accused of dating Blaine for financial gain or to advance his career. It's happened with all of Cooper's non royal girlfriends and was usually the reason why his brother's relationships have ended in the past. You need an incredibly thick skin to read garbage about yourself every day and not throw in the towel.

"Great," Kurt says, eyes downcast. "And that doesn't even factor in yet that I'm a guy. I can see the headlines - 'Meet the man who turned Prince Blaine gay.'"

Blaine sighs. So much for staying in their little bubble for a few days.

"That sounds like you've changed your mind."

Which is okay. Kurt's nice and funny, and very easy on the eyes, but he's also a guy Blaine met only a little over twenty-four hours ago and to be honest, had no intentions of seeing again. Not because he didn't enjoy Kurt's company before they hooked up, but because it would have been too risky. Blaine Anderson - he doesn't really know why he told Kurt Blake - only has one night stands because he can't get attached and blow his cover and it would have been no different with Kurt. If he hadn't been so drunk and tired, he would have left Kurt's apartment immediately after they had sex and maybe he would have gotten away with it. He wouldn't be hiding from his father in a cabin in Ohio with a guy he barely knows, but whose dad he already met. So it's not going to break his heart if they go their separate ways when they are back in the city. It would be nothing more than a few rounds of great sex with a guy he met in a club. Not the first and probably not the last though it will be much harder for him to meet guys now that he has to do it as himself.

"I didn't say that," Kurt shakes his head. "We don't know yet if it would even work, but my dad said I should really think this through before I do anything and this is me thinking it through."

"So I guess that means you're not coming back to bed - how about a shower then," Blaine tries to lighten the mood but Kurt shakes his head.

"I don't think we should have sex again until we figure out what it is that we're doing. Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed it, but I'm not interested in just sex. That's okay for a one time kind of thing, but if you're looking for someone to just have casual sex with I'm not that guy. I like romance."

"You didn't seem to have a problem with it yesterday," Blaine teases not knowing what else to say since he doesn't have much experience with sex within a committed relationship.

"I wasn't thinking clearly yesterday," Kurt gives the Prince a lopsided smile, before he pushes himself to his feet and offers Blaine a hand to help him up.

"So how about I'll heat up the stove and make us some breakfast so we can start getting to know each other."

He gets Blaine to cut the bread his dad brought them while he puts firewood into the stove and heats up a pan of water so they can have some coffee. Without electricity there isn't much he can offer the Prince in terms of breakfast, but Blaine doesn't complain when Kurt hands him a mug of black coffee and puts a jar of Carole's raspberry jam onto the kitchen table. "So tell me about yourself, Blaine," he says to the Prince after a sip of coffee that's too bitter for his taste, but beggars can't be choosers. It still feels a bit weird to call the Prince by his first name even after all they've done in bed, but Blaine's offered and Kurt knows what a privilege it is. "If this was a normal first date, what would you tell me about yourself?"

The Prince swallows down a piece of bread before he answers.

"Well, I'm twenty-four and I've got a brother who's five years older than me." The Prince takes a sip from his coffee before he continues. "In this scenario do you know who I am?" Kurt nods. "Okay. I grew up in the Palace even though my dad only became King when I was eight. When I was eleven, I was sent to boarding school first in England until I was fourteen and then in France till I finished my high school education. I got into Harvard which my father hated because the men in my family have gone to Yale for centuries but I kind of fell in love with Boston when my mom took me a few years ago and luckily my dad couldn't openly say that he thought Harvard wasn't good enough for his youngest son. I studied history like my dad and Cooper and the plan was for me to get my bachelors degree before I started my military training but I got caught kissing a boy in my second year. Dad took me out of school and sent me off to South Africa to train at a base we have there. I somehow made it through and now I'm back."

"I knew all that minus the kissing a boy thing," Kurt points out. "Your wikipedia entry tells me all that."

The Prince frowns. "Then what do you want me to tell you? I wouldn't tell a first date any personal stories. It would be much too risky."

"You didn't tell your girlfriends any personal stories when you started dating?" Kurt frowns as well.

"Well, I didn't actually go on dates with them since they ran in my family's circle. As soon as I started at Harvard I was introduced to a French princess who also went there and after escorting her to a few social functions, our families sort of decided that we were now a couple. The same with Charlotte. It was before my family knew I'm gay so they weren't trying to force me into anything, it's just how things work."

"See you just told me something I didn't know," Kurt smiles at the Prince. "But I gotta say, that sounds very antiquated. Very Downton Abbey like."

"Our footmen were never that hot," Blaine sighs dramatically and Kurt laughs so hard he nearly snorts coffee all over the table.

"So what was it like growing up in the Palace?" Kurt asks when he has his laughter back under control. "Rachel and I went on a tour our first year in the city when it was open to the public over the summer. Isn't it nice living right in the middle of Central Park? Don't get me wrong, the north part is nice too, but you get the best part of it. It looked so pretty with the fountains and the lake."

The Prince smiles at him, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"It is beautiful and if it were up to me, I'd open up the whole park to the public because no one in my family really uses it. My mom and Cooper don't like horses and my dad's too busy to ride them. I always felt guilty when I went for a ride and had this huge amazing park to myself since I didn't have any friends I could have invited over."

Kurt takes their empty mugs and plates and gives them a quick rinse in the sink.

"Sounds like you were kinda lonely," he says over his shoulder.

The Prince doesn't deny it.

After putting the plates and mugs away, they shower separately before dressing in the swim drunks Carole's packed in with the food. Kurt only saw them this morning because otherwise he wouldn't have gone skinny dipping with the Prince.

Back outside, they help each other put sun screen on their backs before sitting down in the shade of the cabin on Kurt's insistence because his skin burns so easily. He tries not to stare at Blaine's body because they are supposed to be talking, but it's difficult because the Prince is incredibly hot. If they call it quits after a few days at the cabin it won't be because Kurt's not attracted to the Prince, that's for sure.

"It doesn't say online where you went to school before you went to England," Kurt picks up the threads of their earlier conversation.

"I didn't. Cooper and I had a tutor because the only school that offered the kind of security that was required for us is in DC and my mom refused to send us away when we were still young. So I didn't any friends. Sometimes I got to play with other princes and princesses when theirs parents visited but I spent most of my time growing up with my dog and the horses since Cooper didn't have much interest in his baby brother. And when I was six he left for school. We didn't really have a relationship before I started at Harvard because we only saw each other for Christmas and a few state's functions when Dad thought it would look good to have the whole family together."

"Your room at the Palace?" Kurt asks. "Is it like the rooms they show on the tour, you know with old furniture."

Blaine laughs. "Everyone always asks me that - and I always say living in the Palace was like living in a museum. It was always 'don't touch this, Blaine, it's 18th century' and don't play in there, Blaine, 'your father is having a meeting with the Queen of Norway'. But my room was a bit more modern, I even had twentieth century furniture," the Prince winks, "and Cooper and I had a _Playstation_ in our playroom."

"Do you have wifi?" Kurt asks, looking to get answers to questions their tour guide couldn't or wasn't allowed to answer.

"Not when I was growing up, but we do now. But my Internet access was severely restricted until I was eighteen and even now I'm not supposed to have social media accounts."

The Prince smiles mischievously and tells Kurt to try to find him on Facebook when they can use their phones again.

It's fascinating listening to Blaine talk about his life, a life so different from Kurt's own upbringing.

"Your official title is His Royal Highness Prince Blaine of Virginia, right?" Kurt continues his interrogation. "Did people call you Your Highness when you were a child?"

Blaine rolls his eyes. "I've been called Your Highness since I was born and even though I told the Palace staff to just call me Blaine they never dared to because my parents wouldn't have considered it proper. But I have to call my own father Your Majesty during official events so it isn't weird for me. It's just how I was raised."

Kurt mulls that over for a moment. "So if we were dating, would I have to address you as Your Highness in public?"

"You could get away with calling me Prince Blaine, but no, it couldn't be just Blaine. Never in public."

"So if you had married Lady Charlotte, she couldn't do so either. It's not just because I'm not royal."

The Prince nods. "Only I would have to address her as Lady Charlotte but I can call you Kurt."

"Well, duh," Kurt smiles. "Last time I checked I didn't have any titles."

Blaine's silent for a moment starring out onto the lake where sailboats are cutting across the water.

"Even if we got married you wouldn't get a title because the Church would never bless a same sex marriage and without a blessing no title can be conferred and that's not fair. If Cooper marries a commoner, she'll probably be made a Duchess or a Countess and once he's King, she'll be his Queen. If I marry a commoner, he wouldn't get a title, and if I was made King, my husband wouldn't even be made King Consort. And if we had kids, they wouldn't be considered legitimate heirs because they have to be born from two married royals no matter if one of them was a former commoner. Even if I married a prince it wouldn't change anything, because last time I checked, I can't have a biological child with another man."

"You're right it's not fair," Kurt agrees, " but times are changing, right. Just fifty years ago, a royal couldn't marry a commoner and now everyone's doing it," Kurt points out because it's true. It's been at least ten years since the Crown Prince of Sweden married the Crown Princess of Japan and since then, there hasn't been a 'proper' royal wedding in the northern hemisphere. "Maybe your brother can change the laws when he becomes King."

"As King, Cooper will be the head of the Church, he won't be able to change any laws restricting the influence of the Church. And parliament couldn't do it without the King's approval so unless I take it to the Supreme Court and win, it's not going to happen. Not in my lifetime. But enough about my sob story. Tell me what it was like growing up in Ohio," Blaine changes the subject because he doesn't want to think about what Cooper may or may not do when he's King when it's going to be years until his brother is crowned King of America. His father is only fifty-eight - he could easily rule another thirty years if he inherited Blaine's great-grandmother's genes who at ninety-two is still fit as a fiddle.

"That's more like third date material, Blaine," Kurt teases the Prince because if he tells Blaine about growing up in Ohio, he'll have to tell him about his mom, and he doesn't tell just anyone about his late mother.

"I told you I was lonely growing up in the Palace which I've never told anyone before. So I think we're past a first date anyway," Blaine says before he takes Kurt's right hand and looks deep into Kurt's eyes. "So Kurt, would you go on a second date with me?"

"Italian okay?" Kurt jokes, thinking about the pasta in the cupboard, before he nods. "Yeah, a second date sounds nice."

The Prince convinces him to take a break from talking in the lake and together they work up an appetite by playing water ball with a ball Blaine 'borrows' from their neighbors who are luckily not using the cabin yet. It feels different than the previous night where they started making out in the lake before Kurt fucked Blaine in his parents' bed because the Prince begged him so prettily and Kurt wasn't strong enough to refuse even though he knew they should talk and not hook up again. It doesn't mean that the urge to kiss Blaine is suddenly gone or that he doesn't want to follow the drop of water running down the Prince's toned chest with his tongue, only that this, just hanging out and splashing the other with the ball, is fun too. This proves that they get along well enough that they can also have fun together without sex.

Kurt tells Blaine the story of his mother over lunch which consists of pasta covered with tomatoes from a can but again, the Prince who grew up with chefs catering every meal doesn't complain and even complements him on his cooking.

"My mom and dad, they were so in love," Kurt says, a wistful smile on his face. "My dad only told me a few years ago, but they got married three months after they met. It didn't not involve a pregnancy scare - I asked. They just didn't want another minute to pass where they weren't married. They were our age when they got married. My dad had just started working as a mechanic and my mom was in her last year of college, but somehow they made it work. And then they had me two years later and my parents were so happy. They spoilt me rotten. I was inseparable from my mom, but I didn't care so much for my dad because he always wanted to play catch or football with me and I wanted tea parties or draw pictures of pretty princes, but he never told me that it wasn't okay that I liked tea parties and princes. They wanted to give me a sibling but my mom had two miscarriages. When they finally went to see a doctor, my mom was diagnosed with a rare and very aggressive form of cervical cancer. I was five when she started her first round of chemo," Kurt stops mid sentence when the Prince's thumb wipes a stray tear from his cheek. He didn't even realize he started crying, but then he's never made it through telling this story without crying. Not a lot of people know the full story - all his friends know his mom died when he was seven, but only Carole, Rachel, Santana and Ben know all of it.

"And I didn't understand why my mom was losing her hair and didn't have the energy to chase me around the house anymore. And why I wasn't getting the sibling they'd promised me," he continues after taking a sip from his glass of water.

"And then she got better. The doctors said the chemo was working and that they could operate on the tumor and then all of a sudden she was in remission. What it meant for me was that my mommy could play with me again and my parents started talking about adoption because my mom couldn't have any more children after the operation. My parents were happy again and it made me very happy."

"Did the cancer come back?" Blaine asks. "Because you said you have a stepmom."

Kurt wipes another stray tear from his cheek and shakes his head.

"They got a call from the adoption agency that there might be a baby for them. My dad didn't have his own shop back then and he couldn't leave work for another two hours so my mom told him she'd go to the meeting and he could join her later. I remember telling her the whole drive that I wanted a little sister because boys were mean and my mom was laughing and then she wasn't. I didn't have a single scratch on me, but my mom, they told me she died instantly and I want to believe it's true. That she didn't suffer. All I remember was that one moment she was laughing and the next there was this incredibly loud bang and the car spun. We'd been hit by a woman who ran a stop sign. She died a few days later in the hospital and we never found out why she ran the stop sign. She wasn't drunk, she wasn't on the phone, her eyesight was good and she wasn't a new driver. She had a husband and a little girl and I could never hate her as much as I tried. Because she wasn't some drunk driver. She was a mother like my mom. I met her family once a few months after when dad and I went to grief counseling and they were just as devastated as my dad and I were. It would have made it easier if I could have hated that woman, but I couldn't. My dad stopped going to church after because he couldn't listen to the priest saying God had a good reason for taking this woman who had beat cancer and leaving him behind with a heartbroken seven year old whose whole world had collapsed. It's when I stopped believing in God too, because if there really is someone out there supposedly watching over us, then this person wouldn't have taken my mom from me."

As soon as Kurt stops talking, Blaine pulls him into his arms his own eyes a little wet from Kurt's heartbreaking story.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that," he tells the silently crying young man in his arms.

He's not sure he'll even shed a tear when his father dies, but his mother, despite her shortcomings, has always made sure Blaine and Cooper knew they were loved and even at twenty-four, her death would hurt him terribly. Just thinking about what it must feel like to lose your mother, any parent really, so young makes his heart hurt and he wishes there was more he could do than just hold Kurt. Who's been right, of course, this is not first date material. Kurt's bared his soul to him, and Blaine knows he'll have to do the same if they want to move from a casual sex encounter to being in a real relationship whatever that means. He's never been this honest and open with any of his girlfriends, not even Charlotte who he's known for many years and wouldn't hate having as a friend because they do get along well when they just hang out and he isn't forced to act like a proper boyfriend.

"It was a long time ago," Kurt pulls himself from Blaine's arms and wipes his face with the hem of his t-shirt. "My dad remarried six years ago and Carole's really lovely. She had a son my age, but, he, uh, he died. He had an undiagnosed heart condition and one day during football training our senior year he just collapsed."

"Holy shit, Kurt," Blaine exclaims because he didn't see that coming. "Were you close?"

"Not really. We shared a house because our parents were married but he was a jock and I was a choir geek and we only ever talked during family dinners, but his death affected me more than I thought it would. Neither of us had made much of an effort to get along but he was family at that point. It brought up a lot of feelings from when my mom died because Carole fell apart. Her husband had died when her son was a baby and then she lost her son too. Next to my dad, she's the strongest person I know."

"I hope I'll get to meet her some day. She sounds like an amazing woman," the Prince smiles at him and Kurt pushes himself to his feet.

"Okay, enough crying. Put the dishes in the sink we can take care of them later. I think it's time for a fun getting to know you game."

He retrieves the bottle of Scotch his dad left behind and two shot glasses while the Prince takes care of the dishes.

"Is that wise?" Blaine eyes the bottle in Kurt's hand.

"Probably not, but I need a break and you need to tell me a few of your secrets. So, Your Highness," Kurt says teasingly as he walks back outside. "Let's play 'Never have I ever'. If you've done something I haven't done you drink, if you haven't done it either, I drink."

Blaine tries to remember the last time he played this game but it was probably at boarding school in France when the game was mostly used to figure out who of his friends had already had sex and Blaine had to consider very carefully what things he could reveal to his classmates during J'ai jamais. Oddly, he doesn't have those concerns when he's with Kurt and he decides then and there to trust that Kurt won't use what he'll find out against Blaine no matter what will happen to them.

"Alright, I'll start. Never have I ever gone to public school."

Kurt rolls his eyes and drinks. "Never have I ever gone to private school," he retaliates and Blaine takes a shot.

"Okay, never have I ever fooled around in the back seat of a car." When Kurt doesn't drink, the Prince looks at him in surprise. "Not even once in high school?"

"I was the only out gay kid in school, there was no one I could have fooled around with."

Blaine takes the shot and Kurt decides to give him an easy one that will guarantee that Kurt will take the next shot.

"Never have I ever had sex with a girl." His eyes widen in shock when the Prince downs another shot.

"You have?" he sputters. "Like actual sex sex?"

Blaine sighs. "Princess Michelle had no interest in being Queen, unfortunately. She wanted to have sex. For months I told her I wasn't ready but she became suspicious and accused me of arranging this relationship because I needed a beard. She wanted to talk to my dad about it, so I slept with her to make sure she kept her mouth shut. I guess I was pretty bad at it because she dumped me after we did a few times."

"Wow," Kurt stares at the Prince open mouthed, because he can't imagine ever having sex with a woman. He's kissed a few, one at a party before he came out to his dad and a few on stage but actually going as far as having sex with them, he wouldn't be able to do it.

"I'm not sure I'd even get it up," he confesses and predictably blushes and the Prince squirms as well.

"Let's just say it wasn't her I was thinking about and I refused to do it with the lights on claiming I was shy about my body. I was really surprised when she wanted to do it again after the first debacle. But my turn. Let's find your skeletons."

"I'm an open book," Kurt smirks because nothing will beat this admission. Then he softens his expression for a moment. "Thanks for telling me. You could have just let me take the shot."

"I trust that you'll keep the things I tell you to yourself."

For a moment, they just smile at each other before Blaine clears his throat.

"Alright, never have I ever been in love."

Kurt doesn't drink.

"I thought I was but I've come to realize that I was more in love with the idea of finally having a boyfriend than in love with my boyfriend. I never said 'I love you' and neither did he."

The Prince takes another shot.

"Never have I ever, um, been arrested."

The Prince takes yet another shot.

"Yeah, um," he rubs his neck sheepishly. "There's a reason I didn't stay in England for school. It was supposed to be a prank. Take the headmaster's car and move it from the parking lot to the stables. He'd left the keys in the ignition and I said I'd do it because I was fed up with being called His Boringness. I took a left where I should have taken a right and suddenly I was off school grounds and to make matters worse I drove on the wrong side of the road and nearly crashed into a car. Before I could turn around and drive back to school, a police car stopped me and took me to the station. They let me off with a warning though as soon as they found out who I was. My dad took me out of school and sent me to France instead."

"You are just full of surprises," Kurt giggles, the Scotch already taking effect even though Kurt barely had any shots compared to the Prince. Blaine's next words sober him quickly though.

"Never have I ever been told by my dad that he's proud of me."

Kurt forgoes the shot and hugs the Prince instead.

"I know I'm not to supposed to say something like that, but your dad is an asshole. Why wouldn't he be proud of you?"

"Don't worry," Blaine gives him a watery smile. "We don't arrest people for badmouthing the King anymore. Though I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be opposed to reinstating that law so he could arrest some dissidents."

Kurt decides it's time to abandon the game because it feels like they've run out of funny 'nevers' and maybe they shouldn't be too drunk for some stories.

"What are your friends like?" he asks instead.

"They are private school boys. Grew up with a lot of money but they are fiercely loyal. You're not just friends when you are at boarding school together, your friends are your family. And my friends were super sneaky. They told their parents that I was leaving school because my father thought it wasn't good enough for a prince anymore and so they got to join me in France which was funny because my dad took me out of school not just to avoid a scandal but also to remove me from my friends' bad influences. Suffice it to say that I didn't tell my dad about that development."

"That was really nice of them," Kurt observes. "I couldn't do that. I don't speak French well enough to go to school in France."

Blaine laughs. "Well, neither did I when I started but it it's not actually a French school, Kurt, it's an international boarding school so we had most classes in English. I do speak French and Spanish fluently and conversational Chinese though.

"Wow," Kurt exclaims, but Blaine shrugs.

"It's just common curtesy that you converse with the Kings and Queens of the neighboring King- and Queendoms in their native language. And since the Kingdom of China is an important business partner my dad decided that Cooper and I had to learn the language."

"Is there anything you can't do?" Kurt asks, still in disbelief that the gorgeous man next to him has never been told how amazing he is.

The Prince's blushes. "My education was very extensive including anything from piano lessons to learning to ski in the Swiss Alps. Doesn't mean I'm very good at it though. And it also wasn't much fun until I made friends at Harrow who took me skiing to their parents' chalets or sailing down the French riviera. I don't see them much these days because they're all British and have grown up jobs in their fathers' companies now. Only Wes is based in New York but he's on a trip through South America right now and was nice enough to lend me his car while he's gone."

"Very convenient," Kurt smiles. "Too bad though that you don't get to see your friends more often. Can't you just fly over there."

"Sure," the Prince teases him. "I'll borrow one of our fighter jets and fly it to a foreign kingdom - that won't cause any trouble at all."

"So you can't fly regular planes?" The Prince shakes his head.

"I only have a private pilot license so I'm not permitted to fly commercial aircraft but if you wanted - and I don't get exiled by my dad - I could fly you somewhere in our kingdom."

Kurt considers the offer for a moment. It's not that he doesn't trust that the Prince is a good pilot, but he's only been on a plane twice, always either driving to Lima with his roommates for Christmas or taking the much cheaper bus.

"You wouldn't make fun of me if I got scared?"

"Course not. And it's okay if you don't want to.

"No, I want to. I've always wanted to see California."

Their conversation is interrupted by a car pulling into the driveway and Kurt cautiously walks around the cabin to see who it is.

"Carole," he smiles and rushes over to this stepmom's Stationwaggon to help her unload two shopping bags.

"I brought you some more staff," Carole says before she accepts a kiss to the cheek from Kurt. "And to be honest, I wanted to meet your guest," she adds in a whisper. "How often in your life to you get to meet royalty. I even did what they do in the movies, you know, drove in circles to see if I was being followed."

"Were you?" he's only half joking. Carole shakes her head.

"I don't think so."

The front door is unlocked, so they walk into the kitchen first to unload the shopping bags before Kurt leads Carole outside to meet Blaine.

"Your Highness," Carole curtsies. "I'm Kurt's stepmother. It's an honor to meet you."

The Prince shakes Carole's hand and tells her to call him Blaine. Then, Carole hands Kurt her handbag.

"I wasn't sure if you want to know what's going on, but I brought you a copy of every magazine they had at the supermarket."

Kurt swallows around the sudden lump in his throat.

"How bad is it?"

"The local papers were pretty thorough and there are some things in there about McKinley your dad and I didn't know about. I think I convinced him that you have bigger problems right now, but he wants to talk to you about it at some point."

"You don't have to look at them if you aren't ready, but I need to know what people are saying about me," Kurt turns to the Prince who's turned pale as well.

"Go ahead," Blaine tells Carole who pulls a stack of trashy magazines out of her bag. Mixed in are some respectable Ohio newspaper but even they have Kurt's face on their front page.

'Prince Blaine involved with local troublemaker' is splashed across the front page of the _Lima Chronicle_. 'Sources confirm Kurt Hummel was a regular in the principal office at William McKinley High School.'

"It says that you skipped a lot of school your junior year and were involved in an 'altercation' in a locker room," Carole sums up the story for him, sparing Kurt from having to read it for himself.

Kurt snaps his mouth shut because he's not talking about that. There's a lot he's willing to share with Carole and to an extent, Blaine, but there are things in his past, he'd rather not talk about unless he absolutely has to. And he is a college graduate, who cares if he skipped school years ago. He puts the magazine aside and picks up the _Columbus Sun_ which leads with 'The Prince and The Pauper.' The whole article is about Kurt's simple upbringing and ends with suggesting that Kurt is using the Prince for publicity because his father's business is struggling.

"Is it?" he looks at Carole sharply and she sighs.

"We've had better years but it's nothing you should worry about. I don't even know how that reporter got that information."

Then there's an interview with Kurt's choir instructor William Schuester who's saying that he always knew Kurt would make it big some day. Kurt ends up laughing a full minute, because nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Schuester hadn't even written him a letter of recommendation because he'd thought Kurt had no chance in hell of getting into NYU's musical theater department. Most magazines had his year book pictures in addition to a screenshot from the video, but there was barely anything about the Prince in any of them.

"The Palace probably made some deal with the media," Blaine says as he flips through the magazines as well. It's not worse than he expected but it's a lot and he's honestly surprised that Kurt hasn't freaked out yet.

Kurt opens a copy of _Royal News_ and it's clear immediately that it was one of their reports who followed Blaine to _Scandals._

 _There I was, minding my own business when suddenly I bump into my favorite royal. His hair was unstyled and surprisingly curly, but I've been reporting on the royal family for the past six years and he couldn't fool me. Christmas had come early his year when after following the Prince for a few minutes, he walked into Scandals of all places. It's a gay bar popular with Columbia University students_ , Kurt reads from the publication he himself was an avid reader of until a few days go.

 _Prince Blaine headed to the bar and before he could even order a drink, a young man already hit on him. I couldn't hear what he said to the Prince, but after accepting a drink from the man we now know is Kurt Hummel, a NYU graduate from Ohio, Prince Blaine stayed at the bar with Kurt. They shared a few more drinks - I couldn't tell who was paying - before they went out onto the dance floor. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who wanted to yell 'get a room' because they got hot and heavy quickly acting like they were the only ones in the room. After Scandals they went to another bar and did shots. The whole time I couldn't believe my eyes. There was my favorite prince - because lets be honest there is no cuter prince in our kingdom - and he had his hands all over a complete stranger. I would have been surprised if they hadn't gone home together with the way they were acting at Rick's Cafe. On the way to Kurt's apartment, the Prince stopped and bought a few slices of pizza for a group of homeless before he followed Kurt all the way to 156th street. I decided to be charitable and called my friends at Good Morning New York and an hour later we were a rather large group of people all waiting to get an interview with Prince Blaine. Unfortunately, the Prince left Kurt's apartment through a back entrance but we're currently working on getting an exclusive interview with Prince Blaine. Because we are all curious to know how long the Prince's been going to gay bars and if his fiancée Lady Charlotte was in on it. I've also been kicking myself for not getting to the bar quicker because if I had I might have given you this exclusive from the Prince's bed. But alas, Kurt got there first. Rumors are that he left New York and went to Ohio while the Prince is dealing with his family. Since the Prince's tweets many have been wondering though if he plans to see Kurt again or if Kurt was just a nameless one night stand to him. Let me know what you think on Twitter while I pine after the Prince. ChandlerKiehl_

"I used to like this guy's column," Kurt says with a stunned expression on his face after he finishes reading, "but half of what he's saying isn't even true. Makes me wonder how many lies I've believed about your family over the years."

"I don't think you have to worry about Chandler Kiel. When Sue's through with him, he won't be writing for a long time. I'm surprised _Royals News_ even managed to print this."

"Well, I don't know her but since he makes it sound like I was the one pursuing you all night, maybe she thought it wasn't too bad. I mean there's no denying you went home with me, maybe she thinks it makes you look better if it appears like I got you drunk and then seduced you."

"You're probably right. Again, I'm sorry."

"Well, look on the bright side. Only two papers have called me a fame hungry gold digger so far," Kurt quips because if he didn't laugh, he'd cry. "And no one's called my a dirty fag so that's something."

Carole looks away guiltily. "Better don't go online for a while, Kurt. There's some pretty nasty things out there. Kimmy showed me some stuff today at work - I nearly threw her phone against the wall."

"I didn't expect anything else," Blaine's eyes are downcast. "What are people saying about me online?" When Carole hesitates, the Prince looks at her imploringly. "Please, I can take it."

"A lot of people say you're a disgrace for the royal family and should cede your titles because you're not worthy of them. Some people are demanding that the Church excommunicate you and that the King publicly distance himself from you. I only glanced at it, but the most vocal people online are either celebrating your coming out or demonizing you for it. The majority, the people who don't vent their feelings online, seem pretty indifferent so far. The radio host when I drove here, summed it up this way. 'Why should we care who he loves. He's not going to be King. If it were Prince Cooper it'd be a very different conversation, but this is Prince Blaine we're talking about. He's no use to the Crown so let the LGBT community have him."

"Gee thanks," Blaine mutters, because no use to the Crown is pretty harsh. He often feels that way himself but it is different when other people see you this way.

It's not his fault that he can't have a regular job which is bullshit anyway because he was allowed to go to college too and only had one guard with him when he went out as himself. Maybe he could get a commercial pilot license and fly people for a living. Flying is fun and if he stays in the cockpit people will never know he is flying them. Or maybe he could get a teaching degree and teach history at a private school. But parliament wouldn't sign off on it because Blaine would require constant security at a level that would cost tax payers thousands of dollars each months and the members of parliament want to get reelected at some point.

"Well, we'll gladly take you," Kurt smiles at the Prince and gives his hand a brief squeeze. Then he turns back to Carole. "I totally forgot to ask, but are the guards still in Lima?"

Carole nods. "They are trying to be inconspicuous but they are watching the house and your dad's shop. That's why we thought it wouldn't be smart for your dad to come here two days in a row. I need to drive back now too so they don't get suspicious."

Kurt wraps her up in a tight hug. "Thank you," he whispers in her ear before letting go and letting Blaine shake her hand.

"It was very nice to meet you Carole," the Prince says politely and puts the magazines back into Carole bag. "I'd appreciate it if you could get rid off those. It's all garbage anyway."

They both keep it together until Carole's car backs out of the driveway. Then Kurt walks back into the kitchen, grabs the bottle of Scotch and walks down to the water. After a moment's hesitation, Blaine follows him and when Kurt doesn't tell him to go away, takes a seat next to him on the ground and watches as Kurt drinks directly from the bottle. Then he turns and looks at Blaine with an unreadable expression.

"My junior year, I didn't go to school for three weeks because I was afraid that if I did I would get raped and killed. I pretend to be sick so I'd get my homework from Rachel, but every day I drove to the library in the next town and stayed there until school let out so I'd be home before my stepbrother. We didn't have any classes together so he didn't even notice. To stay out of trouble, I faked a note from a doctor claiming I had mono and would be out for a while. No one checked up on me because I did all my homework. Rachel knew I wasn't sick but I refused to tell her why I wasn't going to school."

The Prince is looking at him with wide shocked eyes and Kurt forces himself to go on, because if they start dating, Blaine can't find out about the skeletons in his closet from the media. He didn't lie when he told Blaine he is in an open book because high school was fortunately over long ago and he'd shoved all the hurt and the pain to the back of his mind.

"I was bullied pretty badly for being gay, even though I never officially came out to anyone but a few friends. Everyone just assumed and let me know that they thought it was not okay, defacing my car and my locker, knocking down my books, throwing me into the dumpsters behind the school and slamming my into lockers and walls. I was constantly hiding bruises from my friends and family because I didn't want to let them know how bad it was and that my stepbrother just stood by when it happened right in front of him. But there was one guy who was even worse. Because he would call me the most hurtful things while pushing me into lockers, but his hands would linger. He was always involved in throwing me into the dumpster and the worst part was his hands all over me. I told him to stop it once, and he smiled at me and said 'who are you going to tell if I don't. No one's going to believe someone touched you willingly.' After Christmas break he became even more aggressive. Every day after school he would follow me to my car and he started texting me all those awful things. He wasn't stupid enough to sign his name. One day, I had enough and I ran after him into the guy's locker room where I just screamed at him. And he grabbed me and kissed me. Pressed me against the lockers and groped me. I panicked and kneed him in the balls. A teacher came in just as he went down and hauled me off to the principal. I pretty much begged for a suspension. Instead I had to go and apologize to the guy who'd attacked me with a teacher present. When the teacher left, he leaned in really close and told me that if I knew what was good for me I would be less 'feisty' next time oh and by the way, if I told anyone, he'd kill me. I was a scared seventeen year old and I believed that he meant him. So I stopped going to school. If I hadn't run into our school's guidance councilor I might not have gone back at all, but she threatened to tell my dad if I didn't tell her why I was in this library when I was supposed to be home sick. She got me to tell her and begged me to let her report what I told her but I refused. It would be my word against his, and I knew who people would believe. So she made me promise to tell a friend and ask that friend to always be with me while we were at school so I would be safe. Rachel shared all my classes so I told her and she even followed me into the bathroom just so I never had to be alone with him. Rachel and I, we don't always get along, but I owe her a lot."

Blaine gulped. "Why are you telling me this? You didn't have to."

"Because we can't have any secrets if we want this, us, to work. We can't find out potential deal-breakers from _Royal News_ or someone's blog. We're gonna have to present a united front so whatever they throw at us won't touch us," Kurt says calmly. He was oddly calm while telling Blaine about Karofsky too, like he was telling someone else's story. He takes another deep drag from the bottle in his lap. "So tell me, Blaine, what's the worst thing you've ever done."

The Prince is quiet for what feels like forever. Then he says quietly. "I don't think you'll like me very much if I do." He takes the bottle from Kurt's hand and takes a drag himself as if to steel himself.

"Two years ago or so I was allowed a brief leave of absence so I flew to London to meet with my friends from school and we got pretty drunk. Wes' little brother was there as well. He'd just finished high school and was already super drunk when I met up with them. He was also pretty cute and openly gay. And for some reason he latched on to me and started telling me all about how he was looking for romance because he wanted his first time to be special and not just a hook up like all his friends were doing. At some point my friends took off because they had to get up the next day and left me with Jamie. I was pretty drunk and it'd been forever since I had sex so I asked if he wanted to see the hotel I was staying at because it had a pretty spectacular view. And then I seduced him, promising that we'd talk on the phone all the time until I finished my education and then we could be together in California where he planned to go to school. Wes had introduced me as his friend Blaine from school and to his little brother that's all I was. When we were done I snuck out of the room as soon as he was asleep and went downstairs to get another room. I told them to wake my guest before ten so he'd get out before check out and then I texted Wes that I'd put his brother into a cab to a friend's place and that I hoped that was okay since he was supposed to stay with Wes in London."

"That's, that's horrible Blaine," Kurt's looking at him with an expression that says I can't believe you did that to someone, especially your friend's brother. "He never told Wes?"

Blaine shakes his head, his eyes downcast. "I guess he was too embarrassed to tell his brother. We were both drunk as hell but if he had told me no I would have put him in a cab to Wes' place immediately. Do you hate me now?"

Kurt shakes his head. "Only if you'd tried that with me but it does make me look at you differently. I didn't think you could be such an inconsiderate douchebag."

The Prince's still not looking at him, but if that was Kurt's story he wouldn't be looking at him either.

"Do you think I should tell Wes?"

"I think it's safe to bet that this story won't ever come out even if Jaime's realized since who you really were because then he'd have to admit that he lost his virginity to a guy he met the same night. And I'm guessing if he hasn't told his brother yet, then he probably won't tell him in the future either. But seriously, Blaine, that was terrible thing you did."

They are quiet for a few moments before Blaine says, "so what's your worst thing?"

Kurt's still trying to wrap his head around the Prince's confession. It's not a deal breaker but he didn't expect a story like this from Blaine. It shows that they really don't know all that much about each other yet.

"I was auditioning to get into NYU. They were holding regional auditions on the OSU Campus and I'd just finished my audition and wasn't sure if I'd done well. On the way to my car I bumped into a boy I recognized from a showcase I did with my school's choir. He had an amazing voice and he'd told me at the showcase that he'd been doing community theater since he was eight. He was out of breath because he was running late for his NYU audition and they were only seeing students till noon. It was already 11:45. I panicked. I thought if he auditioned I would never get in and I needed to get out of Ohio. So I sent him to the wrong building. I never found out if he made the audition and they didn't like him or if I made him miss it. Maybe he got into another school but he never got into NYU," Kurt admits.

"It's not your fault he didn't plan ahead and got there on time. Who says he would have found the right building on time if he hadn't run into you," Blaine says. "But yeah, that wasn't nice either. But that's good. Means we're both not perfect."

And then he leans in to kiss Kurt, giving him plenty of time to stop him. Kurt doesn't.

It's a soft kiss. A kiss one might share after a first date when everything's still up in the air. But after a few seconds, Kurt deepens the kiss and nips on Blaine's bottom lip before soothing the sting with his tongue. Blaine opens his mouth and sucks Kurt's tongue into his mouth tasting the Scotch they've been drinking. They break apart briefly for air before Kurt dives back in, his right hand coming up to cup Blaine's cheek. They are sitting on the jetty, their bodies turned toward each other, but for the moment, Kurt doesn't need more, content to make out with the Prince like a teenager. And then out of nowhere, Blaine pushes him into the lake and jumps after him with a shriek.

"What the fuck!" Kurt exclaims when he comes up for air.

"You looked like you were getting a little hot there and you said no sex until we figured things out," the Prince says innocently and Kurt grabs him by the shoulders and pushes him under.

When Blaine comes up, he shakes his hair like a dog, spraying water in all directions before he retaliates and pushes Kurt under. They wrestle with each other for a few more minutes before Blaine kisses him again, deep and dirty with lots of teeth and tongue. They're lucky that it's not officially tourist season yet and that the few swimmers further left don't pay them any attention. They kiss until their skin starts to prune and Kurt's stomach rumbles. Reluctantly, Kurt lets go off the Prince and swims to shore so they can figure out what to do for dinner.

They are dripping water all over the kitchen floor but for once Kurt doesn't care because Blaine's draped over his back as he gets a fire going again so they can warm up a can.

"Beans or ravioli?" he asks the Prince because there isn't much they can do when Kurt can't just drive to the local store for fresh fish or steaks for a BBQ.

"Ravioli now, beans for breakfast," Blaine suggests and Kurt puts the can of beans back into the cupboard.

"I haven't been on many dinner dates, but I never had food this bad," he jokes as he pours the contents of the can into a pot and starts to stir while the Prince hooks his chin over Kurt's naked shoulder and watches him with a content smile on his face.

"I've never been on dates that nice," Blaine hums contently. "It was always a gala here or a gala there but I never had a nice sit down for a meal kind of date. Not that I wanted to with the people I dated but still. So this is very nice. No pressure to perform in front of other people."

Kurt cranes his neck so he can share another kiss with the Prince.

"Keep talking," he teases. "I might reconsider making us sleep in bunk beds tonight if you keep charming me like that."

Okay, he doesn't really plan to make them sleep apart because that would be just ridiculous after the last two nights, but he still thinks that maybe they shouldn't have sex tonight. Though if Blaine's keeps doing that thing with his tongue he doesn't know how long he can stay strong.

Kurt drains the water from the pot before moving it to the table and Blaine follows with two plates and cutlery.

"So third date," Blaine smiles and Kurt nods.

They eat in silence for a few minutes before Kurt returns to what woke him this morning.

"So, I still like you and unless I'm mistaken you still like me too." He waits for the Prince's nod before he continues. "So say your dad yells at you for the scandal but leaves you alone otherwise, how will this work in New York?"

"I don't think we can do anything in public together, at least for a while, so I guess we could only meet up at my place for now. I don't think we could hide it from the press if you visited me, but no one gets into Richmond House without permission. I'm pretty sure I won't be allowed to go anywhere without guards anymore but as long as I would get to see you that's okay. And if the press is too pushy, I might hire a bodyguard for you. I could only get you a royal guard if the Palace released an official statement concerning our relationship but I'd make sure you aren't left alone with the press."

"Do you think I should move? Rachel's been itching to move further downtown since she got on Broadway and I know that Santana's been thinking about moving in with her girlfriend. Now might be the best time anyway."

The Prince doesn't disagree. He takes Kurt's hand instead.

"So if when we are back in New York I asked you out again you would say yes?" Blaine's voice shakes a bit and the palm of his hand is slightly damp from nerves.

"Only because I'm curious what a forth date with Prince Blaine is like," Kurt teases for a moment before he leans over his half empty plate and kisses the Prince softly, nearly upending his plate in the process.

After dinner, they watch the sunset together, talking softly about their plans for the future. They agree to return to New York at the end of the week when Blaine's father returns from a visit to the Queen of Argentina. Blaine's hope is that his father will have come to terms with the new situation by then and while Blaine expects to be yelled at in private, hopefully his dad will let him stay in New York and won't force him to go through with the wedding to punish him for his insolence.

Later in bed, they kiss till they are breathless and both hard in the underwear, grinding against each other until Kurt shudders and comes in his pants like a teenager.

"No," Blaine whines when Kurt rolls off of him. "Come back."

Kurt takes off his underwear and uses it to clean himself up before he climbs back on top of the Prince and divests him of his boxers. Then, before he can feel self-conscious about it he licks the palm of his hand and wraps it around Blaine's erection before he silences the Prince's moans with his mouth. Blaine shudders through his own release and Kurt cleans him up with his discarded underwear before he pulls up the thin sheet and covers them with it.

"I thought we weren't gonna have sex until we figure things out," Blaine says, his breath still uneven.

"I thought we did," Kurt gives a little shrug, because really, what more can they talk about?

They spent the whole day talking and they still like each other. As for the rest, they can talk in hypotheticals for another month and it probably won't prepare him for the reality of suddenly being famous, or rather infamous. They won't know if they can handle a public relationship until they are back in New York and until they are, why not enjoy themselves? Take advantage of the calm before the storm. He falls asleep soon after and it doesn't take Blaine long before Kurt's soft breathing lulls him to sleep as well.

It's a strange noise that wakes them the next morning and it takes Blaine a few seconds to realize it's a helicopter looking for a place to land. Which can only mean one thing. The Palace has found him and they don't intend to go back without him. Kurt's still half asleep when Blaine shoves his own clothes at him.

"Quick, the guards are here," he hurries Kurt, frantically trying to get dressed as well because the last thing he needs is the guards reporting back to his father that he was found naked in bed with Kurt.

Kurt's movements are sluggish as he struggles to pull a grey t-shirt over his head, woken abruptly from a good dream. He forces his legs in a pair of jeans while Blaine does the same on the other side of the bed. That's all the time the get before there's a loud knock on the front door. Ignoring his shoes, Blaine's races out of the room, Kurt hot on his heel, and yanks open the door. He doesn't come face to face with a guard as he expected.

"Cooper?"

There are dark circles under his brother's eyes and he looks like he himself has been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. And then Blaine's eyes fall on the pin on the lapel of Cooper's light summer jacket and he shakes his head while his eyes widen in shock.

"Dad?" he croaks, his throat suddenly feeling like it's been treated with sandpaper.

"His plane went down over Bolivia late last night. There were no survivors."

"Oh my God," it's Kurt's voice who says it and it finally gets Blaine moving.

His breath rattling in his chest, he gets on one knee and bows his head, dressed in Kurt's jeans and t-shirt. "Your Majesty."

Besides him, Kurt follows suit while silent tears start rolling down Blaine's cheeks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Blaine sits in the back of a sleek black helicopter belonging to the Royal Air Force and tries to make sense of his emotions. He's grateful for the noise, uses it as an excuse not to have to talk to his brother who is staring out of the window seemingly in his own world as well.

'It's time to go home.' Cooper has said standing in front of the Hummel's cabin. And, 'he can't come, you know that Blaine'.

He's left Kurt with the keys to Wes' car and promised to come find him when Kurt's back in New York too. And then he's wiped the treacherous tears from his face and climbed in the waiting helicopter, ignoring the four guards who look at him with something akin to pity in their eyes. Cooper nodded at two of them before he took his seat next to Blaine.

'Sam Evans, Noah Puckerman. They will be your personal guards from now on. Under no circumstances are you to go anywhere without them, are we clear?'

His brother didn't sound like his goofy, fun loving brother at all.

It's not just their father who's dead. Two of King Richard's senior advisors along with his father's personal guards and a journalist from the New York Times writing a profile about his dad in his fifteenth year as King were on the plane with him.

'They don't know yet why it crashed, but they've already found the plane and there are no survivors,' his brother, the King, has said standing in front of Blaine and the boy he likes.

His mother was supposed to be on the plane but then Blaine caused a major scandal and ran away and she stayed home to wait for his return, Or as the public will see it, the Queen stayed behind so she could be with her son during his difficult time. Whatever her reasons, at least she was not on the plane. Blaine honestly didn't expect that he would cry when his father died, but even after everything his dad put him through, he was still his dad and suddenly he doesn't have a dad anymore.

And then there's Cooper who seems to be only holding it together because of the guards on the plane.

"We're still keeping it under wraps," his brother says suddenly. "At least until you're back home. Now's not the time to reveal that you ran away."

Blaine nods because Cooper's right. The people need to see a united royal family mourning the loss of their King together.

"When we get to the Palace you will fix your hair and put on a suit. Emma's called a press conference for noon," Cooper continues in a monotone voice, sounding like he's reading from a script. Blaine nods again.

"Mom wants to talk to you before we address the media."

"How is she?"

He never knew what to make of his parents' relationship. It was an open secret that his mother had pursued his father for his title. The only child of King Edward was the most eligible bachelor in the kingdom when Pamela Anderson set her sights on him and pursued him until he caved and married her.

Cooper's eyes fall on the guards who pretend that they aren't listening. Blaine knows they won't talk, but he's never really gotten used to talking in front of 'the help' like 'the help' isn't there at all and neither has Cooper.

"It seems like she didn't just marry him for his position after all. She's, uh, she didn't take it well. Doctor Fabray had to give her a sedative."

"And grandma and great grandma?"

"We thought it was best to wait until the morning to tell them. Mom said she'll do it after she's had a few hours of sleep."

Neither of them talks for a good ten minutes while the helicopter flies over Pennsylvania. When his brother speaks again, he sounds so defeated, Blaine's tempted to unbuckle his seatbelt and give his brother a hug, but he's a pilot too and knows that turbulences can happen at any time.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to rule another twenty or thirty years and by then I might have had children who have an actual desire to be King or Queen and I could have passed the baton to them. Because I really don't want to be King. I hate the rules and the ceremonies and I have no interest in helping parliament govern this country. I don't want to have to read countless bills every day and be forced to say yay or nay. I don't want that responsibility. We went to war against Iraq because Dad approved the plan even though only half of the MPs did. I don't want that kind of power."

It's not like they have a say in the matter. The throne is inherited and the only way to get out of it is to abdicate willingly or be forced to abdicate by the Church or government which happened the last time in 1897 when Queen Caroline refused to marry.

"I'm sorry Coop, but crowned or not, you are the King now and you'll have to start making decisions soon. You'll need to hire advisors and a chief of staff and meet with he prime minister, better today than tomorrow. You'll have to meet the bishops to talk about the funeral arrangements and your coronation ceremony. And they'll probably pressure you to marry before you're officially crowned King."

It's probably not what his brother wants to hear but at least Cooper knew he'd be King eventually. Blaine on the other hand never even considered that he'd be Crown Prince, the heir presumptive one day, because he's always assumed that by the time his father died Cooper would have had a kid or two. He doesn't want to be number one in line as much as Cooper apparently doesn't want to be King.

"So what am I supposed to do? Marry some eighteen year old just so the Church's happy? There are no virgins my age and to be frank I don't want to marry one. What if the sex's really bad and then I'm stuck with her because I'm not allowed to remarry unless I'm a widower and she's also a widow," Cooper huffs. "I hate all those laws."

"You might be able to change that law," Blaine points out. "I'm sure you'd have the support from at least the female MPs, especially since there's no good reason why your wife has to be a virgin and you don't. But you should probably do it before you're officially crowned and become head of the Church."

"I wasn't even thinking about that," Cooper frowns. "I think you'd make a much better King," he adds with a sigh.

Blaine immediately shakes his head. "No I wouldn't and I can't be King anyway. No when I'm dating a man."

"So you're dating him now?" Cooper's eyebrows shoot up. "I thought he was just a hook up."

"He was but we've been talking and I like Kurt. So we're going to try dating," Blaine explains.

"Jesus, Squirt, you have horrible timing," Cooper sighs.

"Don't call me that," Blaine protests but his brother just ignores him.

"You need to tell me things like that from now on. And you are gonna have to tell Mom. You've seen me do it for years. You let Sue know when you start dating someone new and after an appropriate time has passed, the Palace may or may not make a statement on your behalf confirming the relationship. Until then, you need to keep it under wraps. No dating in public, do you understand?"

Blaine rolls his eyes. "I couldn't date him publicly anyway. Not with how interested the press is in us right now. But I figured Kurt could meet me at Richmond House or I could show him the Palace at some point."

Cooper sighs. "I hate to be the bad guy here, but you know you can't bring him to the Palace before I've been crowned. It would look too much like, 'hey now that the King's out of the way I can finally bring my boyfriend over.' You can't take him anywhere that's associated with the Crown and that includes Richmond House. Not before the Crown has come out to support you."

"But you will, right?" Blaine looks at his brother pleadingly.

"I can't promise anything, Squirt. The Crown's stance till now has been that it does not support same sex marriage. I can't just come out and say that I do before I've spoken to my advisors and the bishops."

Blaine visibly deflates because he's been sure that Cooper would make things better for him and the whole LGBT community.

The helicopter flies across the Hudson and Blaine watches with trepidation as the Palace comes into view. It's an impressive building right in the middle of Central Park stretching from 80th to 84th street. The main gates are on the 85th Street Transverse right below Queen Victoria reservoir. The whole area below 85th street is part of the Palace grounds while the park area from 85th to 110th street is open to the public. A few minutes later, the helicopter lands with a soft thud behind the Palace and Cooper climbs out quickly.

"Get dressed and meet Mom. She said she's going to be in the library," Cooper instructs before he strides towards the terrace followed by his guards where a Palace guard is already holding open the door for the King, head bowed in deference to him.

With a sigh, Blaine climbs out of the helicopter as well and walks toward the Palace at a more leisurely pace not ready to meet his mother just yet. He's flanked by his personal guards and that's definitely going to take some getting used to.

"May I call you by your first names?" he asks a tall blond with a huge mouth and a man with what looks like a mohawk on his head. At least he didn't get stuffy old guards but two guys who look like they are his age.

"Of course Your Highness," the blond, Sam, says. "I go by Puck," mohawk guard adds.

"It's nice to meet you. I'll try not to be too much trouble but I've never had 24/7 security before and I'm used to doing my own thing. So unless you have a valid security concern, you won't tell me where I can or can't go. And you'll tell me who has told you not to let me go certain place. Also, I would very much appreciate it if you could call me Blaine, at least when we're in private."

"No problem," Puck says with an easy smile on his face and Sam nods as well.

Blaine's old bedroom in the Palace is on the third floor looking south and when he gets there, there's a suit laid out for him on the bed. While Puck and Sam take their positions in front of his room, Blaine takes a hot shower and washes his hair before gelling it into submission. When he's done, all traces of Blaine-Blake Anderson are gone, and HRH Prince Blaine is looking back at him, hair neatly gelled to his head and his face clean shaven. He spends a few more seconds in front of the mirror practicing his sad face so he'll wear an appropriate expression during the press conference.

It's not that he isn't sad, but he's also not devastated and he can't let the public see that his father's death isn't affecting him as badly as he thinks it should.

He walks out of his ensuite bathroom with a towel slung low around his hips and dresses himself in the suit. He already looks like he's going to a funeral. Blaine straightens his spine and walks out of his room to go find his mom, his new shadows following behind. He doesn't know why he needs security inside the Palace, but Cooper's had it just like their dad when he was next in line to the throne. Before he steps into the library he turns to Sam and Puck.

"I lost my cellphone somewhere in Ohio, so could you please get me a new one. Oh and find out Kurt Hummel's phone number. He lives somewhere on W156th street and his dad's name is Burt."

He leaves them with his instructions and knocks on the door after taking a deep breath.

His mother's sitting on a chaise longue wearing a conservative, black dress. Her hair's pulled up and she's wearing barely any make up, her eyes red rimmed from crying. When Blaine enters, she plots her cheeks with a handkerchief and narrows his eyes at him.

"Were you with him?"

There's only one him she can mean and Blaine nods.

"Your father thought you are a disgrace to this family and he would have disowned you had his advisors not advised him against it. Apparently the majority of the people now support civil gay marriage, so your father vowed to handle you in private."

Blaine swallows around the sudden lump in his throat as he sits down in a chair opposite his mother after kissing her cheek.

"What was he going to do?"

"Your father felt that maybe it was a mistake to let you return to New York. He thought you might be better off working for one of our charities in South Sudan."

His mother doesn't make mourning his dad easier that's for sure.

"I'm not going anywhere, Mom." His hands shakes when he says it, but he powers on. "And I'd like you to meet him. Kurt. I think I could like him a lot and I want my family to like him too."

"You are not going to bring him here. I won't allow it," his mother says sharply. "Your father hasn't even been buried yet and you already want to bring that man into our home when you know your father would never have permitted it. I can't stop you from seeing him, I don't have that kind of power and Cooper's weak, he'll always put you first, but you will not bring him here."

Blaine doesn't point out that it will be up to Cooper to decide who gets access to the Palace, that his mother doesn't have any power now that King Richard is dead. That she'll need Cooper's permission if she wants to keep living at the Palace, though he doesn't think his brother will kick her out. If she even wants to remain at the Palace. Blaine's grandmother moved to one of the royal homes in Virginia - their ancestors' home state - when her husband King Edward died when Blaine was eight years old and so did his great grandmother before her after the death of King William.

"I understand," he says stiffly and bows his head, his upbringing ensuring that he doesn't yell or argue with his mother even though he very much wants to. "I will not make you witness my depravity."

He kisses her cheek again and walks away from her. Out the door and up to the second floor where there's a little balcony from which you can overlook the park but no one can see you from down there. Puck and Sam guard the sliding door while Blaine removes a brick from the outer wall and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. It's a new one so he figures Cooper's been up here already too.

"You smoke?" Sam asks with a frown on his face and Blaine gives him a one shoulder shrug.

"Don't tell my mother, but I think the occasional cigarette is the only thing my father, Cooper and I had in common. And if you knew my parents the way I do, you'd understand why I come here every time I have to spend time at the Palace."

Sam mimes locking his lips and throwing away the key while Puck bums a cigarette from Blaine.

"I'm dating Dr. Fabray so if you don't tell I won't tell either," he winks. "Oh, and, I put in a request for a new phone for you, but they said it's gonna be a few days because they need to set it up with extra security first."

Blaine nods. He's expected that.

"Did you get Kurt's phone number?"

"I think so but the phone's turned off. You wanna listen to the voicemail to check if I got the right one?" Sam hands him his cellphone after dialing Kurt's number.

'This is Kurt Hummel. I can't come to the phone right now but I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.'

Blaine waits for the beep before he leaves a message though it won't surprise him if Kurt never turns his phone back on and just gets a new number as well. With Puck and Sam standing next to him on the small balcony, he keeps his message short and simple.

"Hi, it's me. I wanted to let you know that I lost my phone and haven't gotten a new one yet. If you get this, can you text this number to let me know and tell me if your number's still the same. Talk to you soon."

After finishing the message, he hands the phone back to Sam and stabs out his cigarette. The pack goes back into its hiding place and the butt into a trashcan.

On the way to the media room, named so because all televised statements are recorded there, Blaine bumps into the Palace press secretary Emma Pillsbury. She takes one whiff of him and tells him to hold out his hands. After spraying his hands with disinfectant, she also hands him a chewing gum all the while berating him for the bad habit. He expects a pamphlet about the dangers of smoking in his room by the end of the night.

When he gets to the media room, Emma quickly leads him to a corner in the front where his mom and Cooper are huddled together. The room is filled with Palace approved reporters from all major newspapers and camera crews from the big outlets. From their whispered conversations, Blaine gathers that the reporters assume the King's grandmother has died since the royal family is all dressed in black and his great grandmother is already ninety-two. When Emma steps to the microphone the room quiets immediately though and Blaine takes a seat with his mother and brother behind her.

"Good morning," Emma greats the assembled reporters. "Unfortunately, I have bad news today and I am asking you to save any questions until after a statement from His Majesty."

Blaine hears a few mumbled 'thought he was out of the countries' but no one seems to have cottoned on to the fact that Emma's talking about Cooper.

"Late last night, a plane carrying King Richard has crashed over the Andes. With the King were his advisors Terry Schuester and Cooter Menkins, and royal guards Ian Mayer, Brad Ashford, Peter Smith and Ryan Williams. The Palace is sorry to announce that there have been no survivors. Rescue workers have located the plane and the bodies of all the deceased will be flown back to the kingdom in the coming days. It is with a heavy heart that Crown Prince Cooper has followed his father onto the throne. There are no dates yet for the funeral or King Cooper's coronation and the Palace will keep you updated. And now, His Majesty King Cooper would like to say a few words."

Blaine looks at the reporters, many of them looking like Christmas has come early, though there are some genuinely sad faces, and thinks, 'at least I don't have to worry about my scandal for a while.' He's obviously hoped for another scandal, something else that would make people forget about his outing, but he's never even considered that it would be his father's death that would eclipse his coming out.

Cooper's standing straight and looks regal as he addresses the media.

"My father was a great man. This year he was celebrating his fifteenth year as King of this great country. We didn't always see eye to eye on every issue but my father believed in what he did, he had principles and that's an admirable quality in any leader. I can only hope that I will be a worthy King, and I will do my utmost to work together well with prime minister Grey and our parliament. My coronation will happen six months after my father's funeral. I'd like to ask all my subjects to give me these six months to figure out what kind of King I'm going to be. I have been an apprentice for many years but I believed I had many more before I would follow in my father's footsteps. This will be an adjustment for all of us, but especially for my family who's had no warning before tragedy struck. I would also like to announce that henceforth HRH Prince Blaine of Virginia will be titled HRH Crown Prince Blaine of Virginia, heir presumptive to the Crown of America."

A whisper goes through the room at Cooper's pronouncement but his brother is just following protocol. He isn't endorsing Blaine's sexuality or publicly supporting same sex couples. Legally, until Cooper has children, Blaine is the heir presumptive and if something happened to his brother before he produces offspring, Blaine would have to enter into a heterosexual marriage to keep the line of Virginia going. He's not the praying type, but he does pray with all that he has that Cooper will lead a long and happy life and never burdens Blaine with the Crown.

He bows his head demurely in Cooper's direction.

"In this difficult time, my family and I would ask for a little time to mourn my father in private," Cooper continues. "Please direct all questions at my press secretary Emma Pillsbury."

Blaine and Queen Pamela follow Cooper as he strides from the room and for someone who doesn't want to be King, he does a good job of looking more like a King than his father ever had.

"I can't believe the King's dead," Elliott says as they watch the Palace press conference. "Or that you landed that fine piece of ass," he adds nodding in Blaine's direction. "What was I thinking moving away from New York."

"You fell in love," Kurt teases his friend.

Elliott's the only friend he made in New York when he tried to start a band, fed up with watching Rachel get cast on Broadway and Santana get offered commercial after commercial when she doesn't even want to be an actress. The band idea turned out to be a bust, but he and Elliott became good friends. Elliott, at the time, was already madly in love with his boyfriend and when his boyfriend took a job in Pittsburgh a year ago, Elliott followed him there to Kurt's chagrin.

"I can't believe he's dead, period. I don't even know if Blaine saw him before King Richard left for Argentina," Kurt sticks to the agreed upon story because as much as he trusts Elliott, the less people know that the Prince was in Ohio with Kurt when his dad's plane crashed, the better.

Kurt's official story is that he sent the Prince packing and then ran off to Ohio to avoid reporters. On his way back, he decided to pay at visit to his friend and that's when they found out about the King's death together.

His eyes are stuck on Blaine, who looks so different with his gel slick hair and the tailored suit. He looks like a prince, not like the goofy college student Kurt thought he was.

"Has anyone from the Palace contacted you?" Elliott asks and Kurt shrugs.

"I haven't dared to turn on my phone since I left. I'm pretty sure someone's figured out my number by now and I'm afraid of the hateful messages."

"Alright, give it to me. I'll delete anything that's nasty," Elliott holds out his hand and Kurt gives him the phone after putting in his passcode.

The press conference is on repeat on CNN and they've already seen King Cooper's speech three times. Kurt watches Blaine while Elliott deletes texts and voicemails.

"Good news is your email hasn't been hacked and neither has your Facebook or Twitter. But it seems like someone posted your phone number online and people having been leaving messages non stop. I've saved the sweet ones in case you ever want to listen to them. And there's a voicemail from a guy who says he lost his phone and you should text him if you are okay. I've saved it for now in case it's someone you know," Elliott hands him his phone back and after a moment's hesitation, Kurt listens to the voicemail.

"It's him," he smiles and Elliott points at the TV screen, his mouth open in surprise.

"Him him?" Kurt nods and quickly types out a message.

 _I'm okay. Will get new number. Will text new number to this number. Hope you're okay too."_

 _"_ I didn't know you exchanged numbers with him," Elliott says, apparently in shock. "I thought it was just a one night stand."  
Kurt tries not to smile but he can't help it.

"Actually, we're going on a date when things quiet down. Or at least I hope we still are, because we made the plans before his dad died and he wasn't the Crown Prince."

"Holy shit, Kurt. Really? You're going out with a prince? Like an actual prince not a metaphorical prince."

"I know it's crazy, right," Kurt agrees.

He hasn't had a chance to talk to the Prince since his brother whisked him away, doesn't know if this changes things between them or if Blaine still wants to date him now that he's the first in line to the throne.

"So when are you going back to New York? You're welcome to stay here for a bit of course."

"I called Rachel from the car and told her that I think it's time to move. Santana wants to move in with Brittany and Rachel wants to move downtown. I don't know what I'm gonna do yet though, because right now looking for new roommates seems pretty stupid."

"You're not gonna move with Rachel?" Elliott asks surprised and Kurt shakes his head.

"I can't afford to live downtown and I know she wants Jesse to move in with her. Maybe I should just move back to Ohio and work for my dad." He's only half joking.

"Actually," Elliott perks up. "You remember my roommate Dani?" Kurt nods.

"She was looking for a new roommate. I can ask her if she's found anyone yet if you like. She lives in Brooklyn and I think her rent isn't too bad."

"That would be great."

He watches as a reporter interviews people who've come to lay down flowers in front of the Palace gates while Elliott calls Dani. Kurt wasn't aware the King was that popular but it's only been two hours since the announcement and the sidewalk in front of the gates is already filled with flowers, candles and notes for the royal family.

"You can move in tonight if you want," Elliott returns with a smile on his face.

Kurt winces when Elliott tells him how much the rent is. He'll have to get some kind of job soon if he wants to remain in New York.

"If it's okay, I'd like to stay here tonight and drive to New York tomorrow."

Elliott nods and they spend the rest of the evening watching the news until Elliott's boyfriend comes home from work.

After saying goodbye to Elliott the next morning, Kurt drives straight to Brooklyn to the address Elliott gave him. Dani greets him warmly when he gets to her place and shows him to an empty bedroom in the converted loft she lives in.

"When I moved in, there weren't any walls and at first I thought it was cool but after six months of never having any privacy, we found someone who put up walls for us," Dani tells him and Kurt's glad there are walls, especially in case Blaine comes over at some point. She also offers to go to his old apartment to pick up his belongings and Kurt accepts gratefully. He asks Rachel to pack up his things, mostly because he's still incredibly angry with Santana and also because Santana would probably snoop through all of his stuff first and there are some things in his underwear drawer that he does not need Santana to see it.

Somehow by noon the next day, he's all moved in to Dani's loft and has a new sim card for his phone all without going outside. After texting his new number to his dad and Rachel, he composes a text to the Prince.

 _This is my new number. I guess things are probably pretty crazy at your end but call me if you want to talk - K._

Two days of being cooped up at the Palace and Blaine's going stir crazy. His mother and Cooper have been meeting with the bishops to discuss funeral arrangements but Blaine is not welcome since he is officially gay now as he mother put it. When the rain finally lets up in the early afternoon, he tells Sam and Puck that he hopes they know how to ride a horse and heads to the stables. It's been some time for him too, but if he stays in his room while the staff tiptoes around him, he'll either go crazy or become a chain smoker.

Neither Sam nor Puck know how to ride, but that's not Blaine's problem. They are nice, but they are his guards not his friends. He gives them credit though for climbing awkwardly onto the horses the stable master provides them with and he goes slow on his own horse for their sakes.

And then Kurt texts Sam. Blaine quickly saves the number in his new phone and then he's off, galloping away from his guards because he wants to talk to Kurt without anyone listening to him. He slows his horse by the lake and gives it free reign while he dials Kurt's number.

"Hey," he says when Kurt answers on the second ring. "This is my new number."

"You sound out of breath. What are you doing?" Kurt replies and Blaine can just imagine the smile on his face.

"I was going stir crazy being stuck in my room so I went riding. Gave my guards the slip so we could talk in private. Are you alone so we can _Facetime_?"

"Is that smart, giving your guards the slip? I'm guessing there's a reason why you have guards now. And yes we can, give me second."

Blaine holds his phone in front of him and accepts the _Facetime_ call when Kurt's smiling face comes up on his screen. It looks like Kurt's sitting outside on a fire escape and is that the Brooklyn Bridge in the back?

"I'm in the Palace Gardens, so I don't know why I need guards when I'm not even outside. But what about you, are you in Brooklyn?"

Kurt smiles brightly. "My friend Elliott knew someone who was looking for a new roommate and she let me move in right away. She even picked up my stuff because there's still reporters in front of my old building."

"I'm sorry," Blaine says and briefly takes the reigns in his left hand because his horse keeps trying to walk into the lake. "They've tried to get an interview with me too, but Cooper's forbidden me to talk to the press."

"He can do that?" Kurt frowns and Blaine nods.

"He's King now so I have to obey him. He, uh," he hesitates briefly but he doesn't want Kurt to think he doesn't want to see him. "He also said I can't see you in public or take you anywhere that's associated with my family and that if we're gonna date we have to be discreet about it. At least until his coronation."

"Oh," Kurt's smile disappears. "So I can't see you for six months?"

"In public," Blaine corrects quickly. "We can't be seen together in public until Cooper gives his okay. Unfortunately, I can't really leave the Palace until the funeral and I can't bring you here, but when it's over, can I come visit you? I'll get my guards to wear plainclothes when we're out so I can be discreet about it."

"Yeah, of course," Kurt agrees immediately and Blaine breathes out a sigh of relief. "What will you do until then? The news said that the funeral won't be for another two weeks."

Blaine sighs. "I'm gonna ask Charlotte to come over so I can apologize to her in person. Sue thinks it's best not to release a statement concerning the end of our engagement but rather show that there are no hard feelings. Charlotte's being seated with my family at the funeral so I need to make amends first. Other than that, I'll probably be out here mostly, since Mom doesn't want my help with anything and Cooper's busy taking over from Dad. So basically my job's to stay out of trouble, don't talk to anyone and look appropriately sad."

Sam and Puck are finally catching up to him, both holding onto the reigns for dear life and Blaine vows to get them some lessons because if he has to have guards with him 24/7 then they need to be able to keep up with him.

"My shadows are here," he tells Kurt. "Can I call you later tonight when I'm in bed?"

Kurt's face turns red and Blaine laughs. "That's actually not what I meant but now that you made me think about it I'm looking forward to a nightly chat even more. So can I call you?"

Kurt rolls his eyes, but then he smiles this cute little smile that Blaine likes a lot and nods.

Blaine hangs up the phone and turns to his guards. "Where have you been? I've been here all by my lonesome forever. Who knows what could have happened in my own backyard," he jokes before he takes the reigns and races off again. This time, he takes pity on them though - and he doesn't want to get in trouble with Cooper or the head of security - and returns so they can ride back together at a more leisurely pace.

* * *

Up next: Cooper lays down the law concerning Kurt


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary: If you wanna date a prince, all you gotta do is follow a few simple rules**

AN: One of my favorite chapters so far ... hope you'll enjoy!

 **Chapter 7**

Kurt watches King Richard's funeral on Dani's couch and tries not to feel jealous about Lady Charlotte, Blaine's ex-fiancée, getting to sit next to the Prince, when Kurt's not seen him in person since Ohio because Blaine's not allowed to be seen with him in public. It surprised him when King Cooper forbid it, because after years of reading Royal News and other gossip magazine, he expected Blaine's brother to be a hip, cool King who'd happily embrace the LGBT community and would immediately abolish every discriminatory law still in place as soon as he ascended the throne. But so far, the Palace hasn't even acknowledged Santana's video and has declared Blaine's admission a private family matter that would not be discussed with the press.

Kurt's watched all the press conferences since King Richard's death nearly three weeks ago and he's read all the articles and every question about himself was answered with a firm no comment and called tasteless when the King had just died.

It's a whole different ballgame online. There are Tumblrs devoted to Kurt and Blaine's 'whirlwind romance', filled with photoshopped pictures of the two of them and stories about Kurt. There's even fan fiction, describing how they met and fell in love against all odds and became dual Kings after King Cooper died unexpectedly.

And then there are the blogs that call him a 'dirty, cock sucking faggot' who's corrupted the poor innocent Prince. One even goes as far as suggesting that Kurt must have slipped something in the Prince's drink and that's why the Prince went home with him, because in the video Blaine looks like he's ingested more than alcohol. It's anonymous of course, so Kurt can't really report it, but what's worse is that the entry already has more than two hundred likes and has been shared nearly twice as many times. He isn't sure if the people who liked it don't get that he's being accused of raping the Prince or if they actually believe it's a possibility. Whatever it is, he spends a good ten minutes dry heaving over the toilet after stumbling onto the entry.

The Prince gets a lot of hate as well, mostly from women who abhor how he's treated Lady Charlotte, though there's also a fierce debate going on whether she knew about Blaine's sexuality or not, since she didn't look too pissed when she was seen leaving the Palace the previous week.

"I still can't believe you actually met them," Dani joins him with a bowl of popcorn. To her, a royal funeral is entertainment like a royal wedding or a coronation.

"Unfortunately, I have video to prove that it wasn't just a figment of my imagination. Otherwise, I'd be questioning my sanity right about now."

It's been five days since Blaine's last call and Kurt knows it's because he's been busy preparing for his father's funeral and couldn't get away from his family.

"But he did say he wanted to meet after the funeral, didn't he?" Dani asks and offers him the bowl.

Kurt shakes his head. It feels wrong to eat popcorn while he watches Blaine's family mourn King Richard since he's met parts of the royal family.

"He did." Just then his phone rings, the display showing a number with a foreign country code. No one but his family and closest friends is supposed to have this number, so he answers the call, fully prepared for a hateful message that would make him change his number yet again.

"Hello?" he asks wearily.

"Kurt, hi, it's Adam from Tisch. I got your number from Rachel since your old number's not working anymore."

He'll have to have words with Rachel about giving his number out to people, Kurt thinks, even though he's curious to find out why his former stage fighting TA is calling him. They'd gone out on one date once the class was over during which Kurt quickly discovered that the only interesting thing about Adam was his British accent. There were no hard feels fortunately, because Adam also didn't want a second date.

"Adam, hi, last I heard you moved back to England."

"I did and that's what I'm calling. I'm doing this play called 'Peter Pan Goes Wrong' and they're transferring it to New York. It's gonna be off Broadway and they're recasting a bunch of roles because not everyone in the cast could relocate for six months. So I told our director about you, because I think you'd make a great Peter Pan. I haven't forgotten that show you put on in that old folks home your junior year. Unless, of course, you're doing a show right now."

Adam doesn't sound like he knows what's going on in Kurt's life right now, which gives him hope that news of Blaine's scandal hasn't travelled around the world yet. Because he'd hate to get a call like this just because of what he did with the Prince.

"No, I'd like to audition. Email me the script and tell me when and where and I'll be there."

At this point in his life, it really doesn't matter what the show is as long as it gets him on a stage and paid and thus one step closer to getting his Actor's Equity card.

"Brilliant," Adam replies and promises to send Kurt the info right away and to call as soon as he's back in New York himself.

"I got an audition," he squeals after hanging up the phone, the funeral on TV ignored for the moment.

True to his words, Adam emails him the script right away, and before long, Kurt's laughing so hard, tears run down his face, while on screen, King Richard's coffin is carried out of St. Patrick's cathedral and loaded into a carriage drawn by six black horses, 5th Avenue closed for traffic for King Richard's last journey. All Kings and Queens are buried in the Palace Gardens, at the southern most point of Central Park which is the only part of Central Park South open to the public two hours a day.

Dani leaves him on the couch to meet her girlfriend for coffee while he reads through the script again to get a better feel for the character he's going to audition for. The sun is low in the sky when there's a knock on the door and Kurt looks through the peephole because he's not expecting any visitors. In front of his door is a young man who's head looks like a dead animal's crawled up there to die. He's got arms like tree trunks that he's showing off in a tight fitting T-shirt and a grim expression on his face. All in all, he's the type of guy, Kurt wouldn't want to meet out alone at night.

"Who is it?" he squeaks, his hand clutching the dead bolt keeping his visitor out.

"You Hummel?" the guy asks instead of introducing himself.

"What do you want?" Kurt replies, not about to give out his name before he knows who mohawk guy is.

"Oh for the love of," a second guy pushes in next to the first guy. He's got shaggy blond hair and the biggest lips, Kurt's ever seen on a guy. "We're here on behalf of Prince Blaine. So are you Kurt Hummel from Lima, Ohio or not?"

"Yes," Kurt says immediately and then the two men step aside and reveal the Prince himself, dressed in baggy jeans, a hoody that's two sizes too big on him and a Yankee's baseball cap. His hair's curly under the cap and his signature eyebrows are hidden by large sunglasses, but Kurt knows it's him and quickly opens the door for the Prince and his guards.

"You alone?" mohawk guy asks and pushes past Kurt while the blond stays next to Blaine and tells the Prince to stay outside until Puck's searched the apartment.

Kurt watches as mohawk guy, Puck, strides right into Dani's bedroom before checking Kurt's room, the toilet and the bathroom as well. Only when he calls 'all clear', does the blond step aside and lets Blaine walk into Kurt's new apartment.

"I'll take the fire escape and you can take the door," Puck tells the blond before he climbs out of Kurt's kitchen window and takes a seat out on the fire escape while the blond walks back out of the apartment and closes the door behind him.

"Hi," the Prince rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "So, those are my shadows Puck and Sam."

Kurt looks at Puck, but the guard's sitting with his back to them. The window's open behind him however and so Kurt takes Blaine's hand and leads him to his bedroom and closes the door behind them so they can have some privacy.

The Prince kisses him as soon as the bedroom door closes behind them. It's a kiss fueled by pent up emotions and weeks of separation and Kurt doesn't protest when Blaine pushes him against the door and kisses him deep and dirty until they are both breathless.

"Hi," Kurt says when the Prince pulls back. "I take it you missed me too."

"God yes," Blaine nods and leads Kurt to his bed where they take a seat next to each other. "And after today, I just had to see you."

Kurt wraps his arms around the Prince. "How are you feeling?"

The Prince on TV had looked like Kurt would look and feel if his dad had died - heartbroken and devastated - but Kurt knows it's more complicated for Blaine who didn't have the best relationship with his late father.

"I don't know. One moment I'm glad he doesn't have power over me any more and the next I feel guilty for even thinking that and sad because now he'll never tell me he's proud of me. I'll never get to find out if he wouldn't have accepted me in the end. And it wasn't all bad. He was a good father until I got caught kissing a boy. I have a lot of issues with how he dealt with things as King, but he wasn't a bad father when I was a child. Before he became King, he made time to watch me play piano and he taught me how to ride a horse."

Kurt doesn't really remember King Edward. He was six when Blaine's dad ascended the throne, but it didn't even register in his life that the country had a new King, because his mom was sick and his dad cried a lot. It's hard to imagine King Richard as anything but King; but it's different for Blaine of course, because before he was King, King Richard was his father.

"I'm really sorry, Blaine," he tells the Prince, who's eyes are dry, but downcast. "I wish he had accepted you when he was alive."

There isn't much else he can say because he isn't mourning the King. He doesn't think King Richard was a great King though he certainly has been an improvement over King Edward if his history books can be believed.

"I haven't cried, not since Cooper picked me up from Ohio," Blaine admits. "And I feel guilty because I haven't. I felt like a fraud sitting in church and acting like my whole world has collapsed when it hasn't. I'm still not free, but I really believe that Cooper will support me once he stops freaking out about being King."

"Does he know you're here right now?" Kurt asks because last he heard Cooper hadn't allowed Blaine to see Kurt.

Blaine shakes his head. "But he didn't say I couldn't see you at all, just that I had to be discreet when I did. So, I'm being discreet," he nods his head at the glasses and baseball cap on Kurt's comforter.

Kurt wonders if this is how it will be from now on. Clandestine meetings in his apartment with Puck and Sam guarding his door and windows because they aren't allowed to be seen together in public and Kurt not allowed to visit Blaine's home.

Instead of worrying he tells Blaine about the play and how excited he's about the audition.

"That's great, Kurt. I'm sure you're gonna blow them away," Blaine enthuses and Kurt rewards him with a kiss.

When Blaine tries to lower them down onto the bed, Kurt stops him with a hand on his chest however.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do more than kiss when I know they're right out there," he explains when the Prince frowns.

"We're in your bedroom, I'm pretty sure they'll assume it anyway," Blaine pouts but Kurt shakes his head and pulls the Prince to his feet.

"Have you eaten? I could cook us a nice dinner," he offers because he wants to spend time with the Prince even if sex is off the table for the time being.

It's clear to Blaine that Kurt is uncomfortable being in his bedroom with Blaine after what he said about Puck and Sam assuming they're doing it and so he nods and tells Kurt he could do with some food, even though he's eaten only two hours ago after his father's burial.

They keep their conversation light, aware that Puck can hear everything they say while Kurt boils rice and makes Blaine cut vegetables. Blaine tells him about the foal that was recently born in the stables and how he was teaching Puck and Sam to ride.

"Have you ever ridden a horse?" the Prince asks after setting the table for two while Kurt finishes the vegetable stir fry.

"My mom put me on a pony once at a carnival but I started crying," Kurt confesses. "I haven't had the opportunity since to try again."

"Would you want to learn?" Blaine asks and pulls out a chair for Kurt after he deposits the pan of steaming food on the table. "I can't take you to the Palace, but I spent a lot of time horse riding upstate when I was young. It's a very exclusive club known for it's discretion since a lot of celebrities frequent it."

"I can't promise I won't make a fool out of myself, but yeah, I'd like to try. I need some more special skills for my resume anyway and it can't hurt to know how to ride a horse."

What he doesn't say is that he wants to learn because Blaine seems to love it and going for a ride together sounds romantic.

"Then it's a date," Blaine smiles at him but his smile disappears when Puck clears his throat reminding them that they aren't alone.

"I'm sorry Your Highness, but if you want to leave the city you'll have to clear it with the Palace first. We are not allowed to take you beyond city limits without express permission from the head of security."

Blaine looks like he wants to argue but then he squares his shoulders and nods. "I'll discuss it with the King," he acknowledges Puck and gives Kurt a forced smile.

"So it's a date once I have my brother's permission."

It's a strange situation, dating a man who has to ask his brother's permission before they are allowed to go on a date, but it's not like Kurt didn't know what he was getting into.

"It's okay. As long as I get to see you I don't care where we meet," he tells the Prince with a smile that's only a little forced.

Blaine's allowed to stay another hour after dinner which they spend watching a trashy reality tv show, sitting close together on the couch and holding hands until Puck interrupts again and tells the Prince they'll have to take him home now because their shift is ending and they need to switch with Blaine's night guards Mike and Matt.

When Puck's back is turned, Kurt lets Blaine kiss him goodbye but they are interrupted by a commotion outside his front door that makes them quickly pull apart.

"What do you mean, I can't go in there. I live here," Kurt hears Dani protest and Kurt quickly pushes past Puck and opens the door because they are not keeping his roommate out when she was nice enough to take him in at a moment's notice.

"That's my roommate so you better step aside and let her in," he glares at Sam who doesn't move a muscle until Blaine orders him to.

"She'll have to sign a NDA," Puck tells the Prince after he finishes searching Dani while Sam looks through her bag and Kurt mouthes I'm so sorry at her."

"I haven't told anyone I live with the guy from the video, so you don't have to worry about me," Dani rolls her eyes, taking this much better than Kurt would. "And now if you excuse me, I'm gonna take a shower. It was nice to meet you Your Highness," she adds with a smile in Blaine's direction. "You're welcome here any time." And then she steps into the bathroom and locks the door behind her. He'll have to send Elliott a gift basket to thank him again for connecting him with Dani.

Blaine promises to call him later tonight and kisses his cheek and then he's gone, baseball cap back on his head and his eyes hid behind sunglasses as his guards escort him downstairs.

* * *

"What did I say about public dates?" Cooper says when Blaine asks him for permission to take Kurt riding the next day.

They are in what used to be his father's office after Blaine was granted an audience with his brother. There's new furniture and the walls are painted in a lighter color making the room appear friendlier than when it was his dad's office.

"Come on, Coop, you know the Club. No one there is going to talk to the press."

Cooper sighs. All his advisors have told him to pretend that Blaine's video never happened. The Palace controlled media is too busy covering his father's death and Cooper's upcoming coronation anyway, and any other magazines are easily discredited. He's already had a talking to from the archbishop who's made it clear that as head of the Church of America, Cooper couldn't publicly support homosexuality but should take a hate the sin, love the sinner approach to his brother. But Blaine expects him to eventually release a statement in which the Palace acknowledges Blaine's relationship with Kurt Hummel or whoever his brother will end up dating. Which would mean openly defying the Church. Which doesn't bother Cooper, the civilian, but would make a lot of his devout subjects very angry with King Cooper.

He rubs his temples feeling a headache coming on. He's twenty-nine, he should be able to let his brother gush about his first boyfriend not regulate his relationship.

"If I'm gonna say yes to this, he'll have to be properly vetted by the Palace first. There can't be anything in his past that would reflect badly on you and he would have to meet with Sue. There can't be anymore drunken escapades if he's going to be associated with you," Cooper says sternly.

All his girlfriends had to be vetted - at least the ones he told the Palace about. He knows it's hypocritical to be this hard on Blaine, when he has his own secrets, but he is the King and that means keeping his brother in line.

"That seems reasonable," Blaine agrees. Kurt's been very open about his past to him, so he doesn't think there's anything the Palace could uncover that would make Kurt an unsuitable match for him. "So you'll have him vetted and Sue talk to him and then I can take him to the club?"

"And then I'll make a decision." He's not going to promise anything when he doesn't know if he can keep his promises.

"Fine," Blaine huffs and when Cooper refocuses his attention on the papers on his desk, Blaine knows he's being dismissed.

Outside, where Sam and Puck have been quietly chatting with Cooper's guards, he sends a text to Kurt.

 _He didn't say yes, but he didn't say no either, so I count that as a win. The Palace needs to vet you and you have to meet Sue Sylvester - B_

 _Should I feel scared? - Kurt_

Kurt texts back promptly.

 _She's just going to talk to you about you public appearance. - B_

 _If you say so. - Kurt_

* * *

Everyone knows who Sue Sylvester, the Palace's chief of public relations, is. And so Kurt nervously waits for her visit since not even Blaine could tell him when to expect her. He distracts himself with cleaning the apartment daily and preparing for his audition which is set for the following week when the play's director arrives in New York. He also tries not think about the vetting process because who knows what in his life might raise a red flag?

Blaine visits him again a few days later after checking with Kurt that Dani's gone and together they cook lunch while Puck guards his front door and Sam takes the fire escape.

When Sue Sylvester arrives she doesn't even knock. And she orders the Prince to go home. And to Kurt's utmost astonishment, Blaine obeys her immediately, though he drops a kiss on Kurt's lips before he goes and promises to call later.

"Sit," Sue Sylvester moves one of the kitchen chairs in the middle of the room and points at it.

She's got short, blond hair and wears a sharply tailored suit and when she glares at Kurt, he follows her orders immediately. Once he's seated, she pulls up another chair and sits down opposite him.

"You assaulted a student in high school," she says without preamble. "So first we need to deal with your anger issues. It can't look like the Prince's in danger of getting beat up when he's with you."

"My anger issues?" Kurt sputters. "That was self defense."

"That's not what the report said," Sue Sylvester informs him but he won't let anyone accuse him of being the aggressor in that scenario.

"It was self defense," he reiterates and Sue raises an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Okay, what did he do to you? Because the report noted that you looked unharmed."

Kurt promptly shuts his mouth because it's one thing to tell Blaine what really happened but another to tell the Palace's PR lady.

"I'd rather not say."

"If we say he insulted your dead mommy and that's why you hit him, is he going to contradict you?" Sue asks like she expected him not to tell her and Kurt shakes his head.

He's pretty sure Karofsky will let him say anything as long as it isn't the truth. Because even if he's out these days it won't mitigate the fact that he sexually harassed Kurt and threatened to kill him.

"Okay, next. You were drunk on school grounds when you were sixteen. Explain."

Kurt's face turns bright red because it's a pretty embarrassing story.

"My choir instructor wanted us to participate in show choir competitions but we didn't have enough members. So he brought back a former classmate who was a few credits shy of getting her diploma. She noticed that I was pretty down and gave me muscle magazines and this drink to make me feel better. I was stupid and didn't realize what I was drinking until it was too late and threw up at school. One of the teachers looked through my bag and found the magazines and the bottle. I got detention for a week and grounded for a month."

"I can spin that," Sue mumbles and makes a note in her phone before she continues.

"Then there's breaking and entering at a school in Carmel, Ohio."

"The door was open," Kurt protests but Sue continues unperturbed.

"But again, I can spin that as youthful indiscretion of a naive child. Here's where it gets tricker though. Going to bars with a fake ID. I hope you've already gotten rid of it, but if not cut it up and flush it. There's nothing I can do about that, but if it comes out, own up to it, apologize and make it clear you didn't know it was an actual crime. Emphasize that you didn't go out looking for one, but that it was given to you, but you're not going to name names. Most importantly, apologize for making a mistake and do not say it's nothing because everyone's doing it."

Kurt nods immediately, cursing himself for not even considering the fake ID a problem, because as Sue said, everyone had one. He threw it away when he turned twenty - the legal drinking age in the kingdom - but his first two years in the city, he used a fake ID pretty much every weekend when he went out partying with Rachel and Santana.

"Alright, that's all we've found about you so far. Now I'm gonna ask you some questions and trust me, I'll know if you lie."

"Okay." His hands are shaking in his lap because until he met Sue, he thought there was nothing bad in his past.

"You ever watched any illegal porn that could be traced back to your IP address?"

Kurt gapes at her. "Like what?"

"Any underage stuff?"

"Of course not," Kurt shakes his head frantically but then Sue makes a note in her phone and he hears her mumble "watches porn" and he can feel his cheeks heat up.

"Every been arrested but let of with a warning?" He shakes his head.

"Ever recorded a sex tape?" He shakes his head.

"Anyone else ever record you having sex?"

"Um, not that I know of."

"Number of sexual partners and when I say sexual partners I mean anyone who ever made you come."

"You can't ask me that," Kurt protests because this is really taking it too far but Sue just stares at him until she has him squirming in his seat and says 'three' through clenched teeth.

"Including the Prince?"

"Yes." He may as well be honest since it looks like she won't leave him alone until she's got all the answers she wants.

"Ever had an STD?"

"No."

"Ever been tested for one?"  
"Yes."

"Ever had unprotected sex?" He gives her an almost imperceptible nod.

"Ever driven under the influence?"

"No." Not the way she means it.

"Ever consumed any illegal drugs and when I say illegal I also mean stuff that's legal elsewhere?"

"No."

"Do you have a blog that's under an assumed name?"

"Yes," he says through gritted teeth, because he's pretty sure his Tumblr account has been found too by the way she's looking at him.

"Delete it. Have you ever joined a protest?"

"I don't know. I've been too Pride every year since I moved to New York."

Another note in Sue's phone.

"Have you ever stolen anything?"

"No."

"Illegal downloads?"

"Yes."

"What kind?"

"Music, TV shows, movies."

"Delete them. If anyone ever hacks your computer you don't want anything incriminating on it. No animal porn, no downloaded music and no naked pictures of yourself and most definitely not of the Prince. If you have any pictures that show him in an unflattering light, delete them now before I hire someone to hack your phone to check for myself."

Kurt gulps but the only picture he has of the Prince is the one he shot for Blaine's Twitter account. But just to be safe, he shows it to Sue and deletes it right in front of her.

"Alright, now let me tell you how you're going to lead your life as long as you're with Prince Shortpants. No roles that involve any nudity and that includes taking your shirt off. No roles that deal with controversial topics. No roles that involve kissing for more than five seconds. You won't have a political opinion. You won't have a blog. You won't post anything about the royal family on your Facebook or Twitter or I will delete them for you. if you tell your family any personal stories about the royal family, you will make sure they don't repeat them. You won't get drunk in public. There won't be any public displays of affection with Prince Blaine even if the Palace acknowledges your relationship. You won't jaywalk. You won't look at things online that you would be embarrassed about if people found out. You won't give interviews without permission from the Palace. If you get approached you will inform Emma Pillsbury. In short, you won't do anything that would make you look bad and by extension the Prince, understood?"

"Yes."

"Good," Sue smiles at him, but her smile scares him more than her glares. "I'll report back to the King. How are your table manners? Do I have to put you in etiquette classes?"

"I don't think so. I think I'm generally well mannered," Kurt says because he's no savage; he can distinguish a tea spoon from a coffee spoon.

"I'll believe you for now." Then she pulls a pamphlet from her suit pocket and pushes it into Kurt's hand. Printed in bold is **Court Ceremonial - How to behave in the presence of royalty**.

"Read it, learn it by heart," she instructs him and Kurt opens a page at random where the pamphlet talks about how various royals need to be addressed. "I'll test you next time."

It sounds like a threat and Kurt takes it as such. Then he squares his shoulders and looks her directly in the eye.

"Anything else?"

"Just behave yourself, because if you think King Cooper's relationships were under heavy scrutiny, then you have seen nothing yet. It's going to be much worse should the Palace decide to acknowledge the Crown Prince's relationship with a man."

Kurt swallows around the lump in his throat and nods. He's under no illusion that a public relationship with Blaine will be easy, but he didn't think it would come with so many rules. Blaine's rules, he thinks, because he's pretty sure those are the rules Blaine grew up with. Most of which he broke when he hooked up with Kurt and got caught doing it.

He nods again to show her that he understands and then watches in a daze as she pushes herself to her feet and strides out of his apartment without saying goodbye. It takes him a few more seconds before he gets up himself and moves the chairs back to the kitchen table. Then he picks up his phone and sends a text to Blaine.

Next time someone asks if they should be afraid of meeting Sue Sylvester, say yes. - Kurt

Then he snaps a photo of the pamphlet and sends it to the Prince as well.

Is she telling me that I've been misbehaving in your presence so far ;) - Kurt

Blaine must be holding his phone in his hand because he texts back immediately and when he does Kurt nearly drops his phone, because Sue Sylvester would so not approve of that kind of texting.

I don't know, Kurt. I think you already have kneeling in front of royalty down. But I'd be willing to come over and check your form again [Imagine Halo Smiley Here]


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

While his brother sneaks around with his boyfriend - Blaine's not as sneaky as he thinks he is and the royal guards work for him now - Cooper tries to figure out what to do with the woman he's in love with. It's three months till his coronation and both government and Church have let him know that a King is supposed to have a Queen by his side and it would be better if Cooper announced his engagement to a suitable woman rather sooner than later. The problem is that Cooper would love nothing more than announce his engagement but unfortunately the woman he is in love with and had been hiding from his father is a lot of things, but suitable is not one of them. Because not only is she six years older, she's also divorced and has two children from her previous marriage, an eight year old son and a six year old daughter who both adore Cooper and what's even better, have no clue that he's someone special.

But finding a solution to his problem will have to wait, because today he's officially meeting Kurt Hummel, Blaine's boyfriend, to determine if Kurt's just a passing fad for his brother or someone Blaine actually plans to have a future with. Well, technically, he's meeting him unofficially, because no one's supposed to know about the meeting since Cooper is expected to pretend his brother never came out and isn't secretly dating a man. It's the only reason why he's given Blaine permission to take Kurt to the club after a report from Sue Sylvester that suggested that Blaine could do worse, but he could also find a much more suitable partner than Kurt Hummel. He plans to accidentally bump into them at the club so it doesn't look so much like a secret meeting though Blaine's probably right and the other members of the club will likely keep their mouths shut since most of the male members have brought their mistresses at some point.

When Cooper gets to the club, with much more fanfare than he likes because he would have preferred to keep this visit under wraps, the stable master gapes at him for a full minute when Cooper tells him to saddle horses for him and his guards, because every one knows about the tantrums threw as a child when his father had tried to teach him how to ride. Of course, he now knows how to ride them because his father had not been impressed by the tantrums and had put him on a horse nonetheless, but Cooper most certainly does not like the nasty, stinking animals.

"The Crown Prince is our guest today as well," the old man tells him once he's gotten over the shock of being in the presence of the King.

Cooper pretends to be surprised.

"What a coincidence. Could you tell me where I can find my brother?"

A few minutes later, Cooper leads the black stallion he was given down to a clearing behind the golf course where he finds Blaine and Kurt as promised by the stable master. His brother's guards are close enough to intervene should anyone try to attack his brother but far away enough that they aren't hovering and Cooper instructs his own guards to join them before he approaches his brother and his boyfriend. He didn't pay much attention to the young man when he picked up his brother from Ohio, preoccupied with his father's sudden death and while he's watched Blaine's video, his focus had been on his brother and not the man he was with.

Kurt Hummel sits stiffly in the saddle of the old mare he's been provided with and Cooper's pretty sure it's his first time on horse back since Blaine's got his reigns and is slowly leading Kurt's horse in a circle. Kurt's riding boots look brand new as does the rest of the outfit and Cooper wonders if Blaine bought it for his boyfriend. When they notice him, Cooper nearly laughs, because in his haste to bow to him on horseback, Kurt's face ends up in the horse's mane.

"Your Majesty," the young man mumbles and Cooper sees him give Blaine a look that says why didn't you warn me that your brother was coming.

"What are you doing here, Cooper?" Blaine gets straight to the point. "You hate horses and you don't play golf."

"I thought it was time the three of us had a little chat," Cooper tells him, "since you want me to publicly support your relationship."

Blaine's boyfriend hasn't come up from his bow yet and Cooper tells him to relax but doesn't offer Kurt to call him by his first name like he knows he does with Blaine. Or normally does. If Sue's briefed him well, he won't call his brother just Blaine in front of the King.

For a moment no one says anything and Cooper rolls his eyes because it's so typical of his brother. First he pesters him for weeks to let him date Kurt and then when he has the chance to show Cooper why he and his boyfriend should be allowed to be together he doesn't say a word.

"Is there anything you would like to know about me, Your Majesty?" Kurt breaks the silence though he's probably aware that Cooper already knows all there is to know about Kurt Hummel from Lima, Ohio.

"What do you expect to get out of it? I'm sure Sue's told you the rules, so why are you still here? It can't be love, you've barely known each other for three months. Why do you want to be with my brother?"

Cooper can tell that's not the question Kurt's expected.

"I don't, ah, I don't expect anything from dating your, I mean, from dating the Crown Prince. I didn't know I was talking to Prince Blaine when we met and I liked the man I met. I've always wanted to be an actor, but not one of those that are only famous because they have a bad reputation, so I can live with the rules. And as for why I want to be with Prince Blaine - he's handsome, he's smart, he treats me with respect, he listens to me, he supports me and he compliments me. Who wouldn't want to be with a man like that? And you're right, it's too soon to talk about love. But I'd love to find out if this is where our relationship is going."

With the way his brother is looking at Kurt, Cooper's sure it's not too soon to talk about love for at least one of them.

"You gotta be sure," he tells them. "I'm not gonna release a statement after my coronation if you aren't sure. Because once I do, I'm openly defying the Church whose head I'll be when I acknowledge that it's possible that my brother loves a man the way he's supposed to love a woman."

"So no pressure at all," Kurt quips before he slaps his hand over his mouth in shock, apparently forgetting for a moment who he's talking to.

"You'll have another three months to convince me that this is real and that I'm not backing the wrong horse if I support you. You have my permission to bring Kurt to the club," he turns to Blaine "and as long as no one else finds out about it, you can keep visiting him at home, but that's it. At least until I've made my decision."

Sensing that the talk is over, Kurt bows to him again and Blaine inclines his head as well. Cooper gets his horse to turn and move back toward the stables as his guards catch up to him. And now back to my own problems, he thinks before getting the stupid beast to quicken its pace.

Kurt's hands are shaking badly and if he wasn't sitting atop a horse his knees would probably wobble too.

"That was scary. When did your brother become scary?" he turns to Blaine who looks pissed.

"I can't believe he made you call me by my title when he hated it when Dad did it to his girlfriends. It's humiliating, like he thinks we're so much better than you."

"Well, legally you are," Kurt shrugs, less bothered by it than Blaine apparently is. "I really didn't expect him to ask me about my intentions concerning you. I guess that's what the first commoner who ever married into a royal family must have felt like."

"I think you handled yourself very well," Blaine smiles at him and puts his horse next to Kurt's so he can lean over for a kiss, but Kurt turns his head so the Prince's lips land on his cheek.

"No public PDA," he reminds Blaine of rule number one because while he's pretty sure that Puck and Sam are the only other people around, one could never be too careful.

You never knew if there weren't paparazzi hiding somewhere in the bushes or behind a fence with a telephoto lens - his subscription to _Royal News_ taught him that - so they had to be careful for the time being.

Blaine sighs and picks up the reigns to Kurt's horse again.

"Alright, lets continue then. Try to relax and keep you're breathing steady. If she feels you're nervous, she won't do what you want her to."

"Try to relax he says," Kurt mumbles under his breath but loud enough that the Prince can hear him. "How am I supposed to relax when your brother basically just told us that we have three months to fall madly in love otherwise he won't support you publicly."

Not that he thinks it will be a problem, at least not for him. Kurt's well on his way to falling in love with the Prince even though the past two months have been difficult. Trying to have a relationship when Puck and Sam are always around is frustrating because Kurt can't fully relax when he knows he and Blaine are not alone. The most he's consented to since their return to the city were rushed hand jobs when he claimed he wanted to show Blaine a new outfit in his room, but he just doesn't feel comfortable staying with Blaine in his bedroom for too long, when either Puck or Sam is always on the fire escape and would know what they are doing if they're in there for more than a few minutes at a time.

Blaine doesn't care, used to little privacy after years of boarding school and the military, and since neither Puck nor Sam seem to have a problem with his sexuality it wouldn't bother him if they thought he and Kurt are having sex in Kurt's bedroom, but it bothers Kurt and fortunately Blaine doesn't pressure him. Neither of them had sex regularly before they met, so it's not super difficult to go without. And like Blaine has told him totally matter of factly and without a hint of blush on his face - 'that's why they invented masturbation'. He didn't specify who _they_ are and Kurt was too busy blushing to ask him about it.

When his first lesson is over, Kurt's proud he didn't fall off the horse and he spends a few more minutes petting it while Puck and Sam whisk Blaine off to the showers, blocking the doors so no one can go in while the Crown Prince is using the facilities.

While Kurt waits for his own turn, he tries not to be too star struck when a famous actor whose poster Kurt had on the wall of his Ohio bedroom walks past and says 'hi' to Kurt after doing a double take. Kurt knows it's not for his own acting career since the play hasn't even started rehearsal and the full cast hasn't been announced yet, though Kurt's ecstatic that he made the cut and got offered the role even though the production originally wanted to go with a woman because Peter Pan was rarely plaid by a man since most couldn't hit the required high notes. Well, Kurt could and Adam's praise hadn't hurt either. And - but he tries not to think about it - it may have helped that the director did follow American royal news and knew who Kurt was when he auditioned. A six weeks rehearsal is set to start next months, before a six months run off Broadway with the possibility of extending it for another two months if tickets sell well. After getting offered the role, he sent the script to Sue Sylvester for final approval and after a meeting with the costume designer during which Sue Sylvester pretty much told the woman how much skin Kurt's _Peter Pan_ costume was allowed to show, he accepted his first acting job out of college.

That night, Blaine brought over Champagne to celebrate but he couldn't convince his guards to let him stay at Kurt's over night and pick him up the next day.

Apart from his audition and two call backs, he's barely ventured out since the night at _Scandals,_ online shopping his new best friend since he can even get his groceries delivered, though he always instruct the delivery guy to leave the bags in front of his door because he doesn't want anyone to find out his new address because that would be a sure fire way for King Cooper to stop Blaine from coming over.

Their time together at the club gets cut short when after they are both freshly showered and ready to go for a walk before a late lunch, Queen Pamela calls asking Blaine to come to the palace to help her sort through his father's things. Kurt knows she doesn't approve of him, would rather pretend he doesn't exist at all, and constantly calls with reasons why Blaine has to spend time with his family at the Palace like she has a sixth sense for when her son's heading out to meet Kurt. Or she has an in with Palace security, Kurt thinks spitefully, because Blaine's mother has never even met him and seems to hate him on principle.

They didn't drive up together since as far as the gossip press is concerned, Kurt's supposed to be nothing but a one night stand who has no contact with Blaine anymore. While Blaine climbs into the backseat of a black Bentley with tinted windows, Kurt unlock's Wes Audi since Blaine's told him to keep using it if he needed a car. He felt like shit when he finally spoke to Wes and his friend chided him for not being honest with him when Blaine knows Wes has an openly gay brother. He felt even worse when Wes joked that maybe he should set them up unless Blaine was seeing someone. He told Wes about Kurt then and there even though he's not supposed to talk about it with anyone outside the Palace, but Wes' kept many of his secrets over the years and Blaine's sure he won't start spilling them now. His friend also had no problem with Kurt driving his car while Wes finished his trip as long as it was intact when he got back.

"I'm curating an exhibition about your father's reign," Blaine's mother informs him when he arrives at the Palace two hours later. "Be a dear and help me find items we can show the public."

Blaine's surprised she doesn't asks why it took him two hours to get to the Palace but he assumes it's part of the 'don't ask, don't tell' thing his mom has going on in regards to Blaine's sexuality.

"Also, please talk to your brother about what's expected of a King since he seems to have forgotten. Bishop Alanza called on me today to tell me that Cooper has asked Parliament to abolish the white wedding law."

It's not what it's officially called, but only lawyers would call it Royal Law, section three, paragraph five.

Blaine takes a deep breath before he replies because he's not trying to be contrary, he just doesn't understand why his mother doesn't support a modernization of Royal Law.

"That's such an outdated law, Mom. Did you never think it was unfair that Dad was allowed to have affairs before you married and you weren't?"

He follows his mother into his father's dressing room where King Richard's robes and other official uniforms are already laid out.

"Marrying into a family like your father's demanded sacrifice and I always believed anyone not willing to make that sacrifice wasn't worthy of it. And the same goes for your brother. He needs a wife by his side who's willing to sacrifice everything for the Crown just like I did."

Blaine doesn't say 'and look where it's got you - widow at fifty-two, with no power of your own and your inheritance part of the Royal Estate' - because he's certain that deep down his mother knows that too and maybe that's why she's clinging to all remnants of power, like meeting with the bishops behind Cooper's back and telling Blaine who he can and can't bring to the Palace.

"So that exhibition - what's your plan?" he changes the subject because he doesn't want to think about outsiders marrying into the royal family when he will never be able to have more than a civil marriage, which still is a step below 'normal' marriage since civil same sex marriage doesn't award all the same rights yet as marriage.

As he pretends to listen to his mother, Blaine thinks about Cooper's words and how Blaine needs to be sure about Kurt if his brother's going to support them. But how sure can you be about someone after three months? Well, Kurt's parents got married after three months, but that's an aberration, the chances of a relationship like that working out one in a million. It hasn't been an easy three months for them, the lack of privacy the biggest issue since Blaine isn't allowed to bring Kurt to Richmond House where it would be easier to send Puck and Sam to another side of the house since Blaine's home has a great security system. It sometimes makes him feel like a 19th century princess who's only allowed chaperoned visits by her betrothed so they don't get too close before the wedding. Some days it's really hard not to resent his father for dying and making Blaine number one in line and thus requiring constant security. Things would be different if he and Cooper had royal cousins who could ascend the throne if something happened to his brother before he started a family because then Blaine could just abdicate but his grandmother, King Edward's wife, had been unable to bear more children after their son Richard was born and so the person third in line is Blaine's great aunt Sophia, who at seventy-five is already senile and since she never married she would be succeeded by one of Blaine's grandfather's cousins and his family. Blaine doesn't see that part of the family often, his second and third degree cousins leading relatively normal lives with jobs, no restrictions on marriage and no need for security because they are so far down the line of succession, a meteor would have to hit the Palace during a family reunion for them to get a chance.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like his brother is getting married and starting a family any time soon though Blaine knows he's under pressure to do so. But Cooper's not even looking, hasn't been seen in the company of a woman for a while now. Maybe he will once the wedding laws change, Blaine reasons with himself. Maybe his brother already has a woman in mind who he can't marry until the law's changed.

"Blaine, are you even listening?" his mother pulls him from his thoughts and Blaine nods guilty.

"Of course, Mom. But I think whatever you do it will be great."

Fortunately, that seems to be the right thing to say.

* * *

"Everyone's speculating that King Cooper will announce his engagement soon now that he's got Parliament to repeal that stupid law," Rachel says when Kurt invites her over, feeling guilty about neglecting his best friend the past few weeks.

"Don't look at me. If he is seeing someone I don't know about it. I only met him twice and he wouldn't be telling me a secret like that when I'm his brother's dirty little secret," Kurt says bitterly because another months has passed and he's still not allowed anywhere near Blaine's home and they barely ever have time to go riding together because Queen Pamela's exhibition is keeping the Prince busy at the Palace.

At least rehearsals are going well and so far no one's made him feel like he only got cast because he's had a one night stand with Prince Blaine.

Another thing to look forward to is a Halloween party at the club because Blaine's somehow convinced his brother to let him stay over night at the Club House which is more like a hotel if you ask Kurt, getting them adjourning rooms with a connecting door. Cooper's only caveat has been that Blaine travel with a full a security detail and that the guest list had to be Palace approved but in a few nights Kurt will finally get to spend a full night with his boyfriend again.

"Who do you think he will marry? A princess or a commoner destined for great things," Rachel swoons. "If I didn't love Jesse I'd ask you to introduce me to the King."

"That might be difficult since I'm not allowed anywhere near the Palace. I'm surprised they didn't tell me that Central Park is off limits too." Still bitter then.

"Well, I for one am looking forward to the royal wedding since we weren't born yet when the last one happened," Rachel still has a dreamy look on her face and Kurt wonders if her boyfriend knows that Rachel has the hots for the King.

"And I don't think he's going to get married or even announce an engagement before the coronation. If I barely get to see the Prince, how's a King going to date?"

* * *

Sometimes his brother has smart ideas. Like attending a masked party at the club so he can spend time with his boyfriend without people staring at them the whole time. Because Cooper's sure people are even if the club members are mostly celebrities, sport stars and a few politicians known for their discretion. It's the perfect place to meet with Sarah since sneaking around has become much more difficult since the burden of the Crown has landed on his head. Metaphorically for the time being though it's not long now till his coronation, where he'll have to wear his father's crown for the first time.

"So, Sue gave me a thirty minutes long talking to about appropriate costume choices because we don't want a Prince Harry incident," Cooper says to break the ice when they meet in the parking lot behind the club house, because since he's in charge of his brother's life it's gotten much harder to have a normal conversation with him.

"Me too," Blaine rolls his eyes. "So what are you supposed to be?"

Cooper huffs. "Well, isn't it obvious? I'm King Charming."

"More like King Conceited," Blaine mumbles under his breath and Cooper would admonish him because there's club staff in the vicinity, but then Kurt bounds over and Cooper knows his brother isn't paying him any attention anymore. At least Blaine's boyfriend is following the mask theme, dressed as the Phantom of the Opera, though does that make his brother the young ingenue? Probably not since Blaine is dressed in what looks like a homemade superhero costume, expertly sewn by Palace seamstresses of course, but not a superhero Cooper's familiar with.

"I'm Nightbird, the Nocturnal Avengers," Blaine explains to Kurt so at least Cooper's not the only one who didn't know who his brother's supposed to be.

All their guards - and there are a lot with Cooper and Blaine both in attendance - are wearing costumes as well which makes them stick out less like sore thumbs and it actually takes Cooper a good ten minutes before he finds the female Zorro in the crowd, but when he does and after making sure it's the right one, he grabs a masquerade mask from one of the tables and sneaks out with his lady before his guards notice he's gone.

"God, I missed you," he tells Sarah and kisses her deeply even though he knows he probably shouldn't when there's no way he can be King and be with her.

Because the real question is - would he be willing to give up everything for her?

"If I gave up the throne - would you marry me?" he asks her.

"You can't do that to your brother," Sarah shakes her head sadly. "You know he'll have to take a wife and have children if you abdicate because he won't let the throne go to either a bunch of senile fossils or underprepared twenty year olds who've never really seen the inside of the Palace.

"But what if I made provisions so Blaine could marry who he loves and still be King?" Cooper says almost desperately because whatever they do either Cooper or Blaine will be unhappy.

"You've been trying to find a loophole for us for months. But if you aren't allowed to marry me because I'm divorced and the law wouldn't consider any children we still might have as legitimate heirs, what makes you think your brother could marry a man and still carry on the line? I don't want us to break up either, but you don't have a future with me and you know it."

"Give me a few more months to figure things out," Cooper begs and he never begs. A King doesn't beg. "I've never cared for anyone the way I care about you. I don't want this to end because of stupid rules and century old laws."

"Me neither," Sarah says with tears in her eyes. "But I'm afraid it will."

* * *

"Do you know who that was your brother left with?" Kurt asks, his chin hooked over the Prince's shoulders as they slow dance to a song Kurt's unfamiliar with but has brought many couples onto the dance floor.

The Prince's hair is curly tonight and his eyes hidden behind a broad mask that's part of his superhero costume - apparently he came up with the character at boarding school - and Kurt has a hard time keeping his hands away from Blaine's tights covered ass, shielded from view by a cape so the outfit's not too provocative.

"I haven't seen her before," Blaine shakes his head. "But since the King deemed it Okay to ditch his guards, how about we do the same and head upstairs," The Prince waggles his eyebrows suggestively under his mask and Kurt blushes, but he's been looking forward to this night too when Blaine's guard will hopefully be across the hall and not right in front of Blaine's bedroom.

"We only just got here. If we leave now people will talk," Kurt points out and wonders why he seems more worried about breaking the rules than Blaine seems to be. "Also, this is our first party together and I'd like to enjoy it a little longer before we have to go back to hiding in my apartment."

"Sorry," the Prince apologizes though it's not really his fault. Sometimes it's just really frustrating having a secret relationship. In the beginning, he thought sneaking around was hot but now all he feels is frustrated and like he's living a lie.

"A few more songs and then we can go upstairs," he compromises because yes, he wants them to have fun together in semi public but he's also horny and can't wait to get the Prince alone.

As if the universe is eavesdropping on Kurt's thoughts, the next song that comes on is _When I get you alone_ and Kurt turns beet red under his phantom mask when Blaine sings in his ear _you can keep your toys in your drawer tonight._ Well, if the universe is sending him a sign then who is he to ignore it? A pretty girl in a cat woman costume walks by Puck and Sam and Kurt and Blaine take advantage of their momentary distraction and slip out of the room, bypassing Blaine's bedroom for Kurt's since that's the first place anyone will come looking for them.

Kurt nearly rips Blaine's costume in his haste to get the Prince out of it and they kiss messily, Kurt's mask hanging half of his face while Blaine's pushed his up using it like a headband to keep his hair out of his eyes. When he's got the Prince stripped down to his underwear he takes a moment to look him over, but he's just as hot as the last time he saw him fully naked, just a little less tan now that summer's over and he's not on base in South Africa anymore. Blaine nearly drips over the cape by his feet when he rushes to get off Kurt's costume as well and Kurt tries not to fidget under Blaine's gaze and when the Prince's eyes rake over his exposed body as well.

And then his back hits the mattress and Blaine crawls on top of him, taking his breath away when he licks into his mouth and sucks on Kurt's tongue before moving on to his jaw and down his neck before sucking on Kurt's nipples making him squirm underneath the Prince as his dick hardens in his underwear. He's about to divest him and Blaine from their last layers when there's a knock on the door and Kurt groans loudly because he's so turned on right now and would like to see what Blaine's planned for them.

"Your Highness, are you in there?" Sam calls, using Blaine's formal address. "We just need to know you're safe, then we'll leave you alone for a bit."

"Sam, I'm perfectly safe. Why don't you go and see if my brother's guards need help locating the King," Blaine says through gritted teeth, but the moment they hear Puck and Sam's footsteps disappearing down the hall, he's attention is back on Kurt and Kurt quickly pulls off his own underwear before doing to same to Blaine.

"God, I love you," Blaine mumbles into Kurt's bellybutton as he kisses his way down Kurt's stomach and Kurt freezes because they haven't said I love you yet and he isn't sure if Blaine really means it or it's just because they're naked and about to have sex for the first time in months.

"You love my bellybutton?" Kurt asks to give the Prince an out if he hasn't meant it the way Kurt wants him to mean in.

"I do," Blaine smiles up at him from where he's lying between Kurt's spread thighs. "I love you're bellybutton." A kiss. "I love your dick." A kiss. "I love your nipples." Two kisses. "I love your fingers." Ten kisses. "I love your mouth." A kiss. "I love your nose." A kiss. "And I love your heart." Another kiss on Kurt's chest. "Maybe it's too soon, but I love you."

Blaine's smiling at him like a love sick fool, like he would be content to stay like this even if Kurt doesn't say it back, but Kurt has no intention to keep quiet.

"What, no love for my ass?" he teases the Prince before pulling him down for a soft kiss. "You're just lucky I love you too."

Somehow, the sex is even better than night, their moans interspersed with declarations of love and for the first time since Ohio, he falls asleep with the Prince in his arms, wishing it could always be like that.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:** I'll reply to reviews when I get back from Amsterdam on Tuesday. There probably won't be another update till then, but I'm bringing my laptop and should get some writing done since I'm taking a bus from London (yay for the 11 hour trip ... not ;) )

 **Chapter 9**

"Cooper said I could fly you to Ohio for Christmas," Blaine says in lieu of a greeting as he walks away from the King's office. "I told him that I needed to do my hours to keep my license up to date and then he sighed and said I could as long as I didn't fly you to a commercial airbase. Only if you want to, of course." Once he's back outside in the car and driven to Columbia University where he's auditing a few classes with the goal of becoming a full term student in the spring, he switches to _Facetime_ so he can see Kurt who's in tech week for _Peter Pan Goes Wrong_ , but fortunately on a break at the moment.

"I like your costume by the way." It's tight, accentuating Kurt's build, but also not too revealing.

"One hundred percent Sue Sylvester approved," Kurt rolls his eyes. "And yes, I'd like that. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little bit scared of getting onto a small plane but I'm sure you're a good pilot. If there are restrictions on my luggage however, the deal's off," he adds with a wink.

"No restrictions. We'd fly from a military base here in New York to the one in Columbus. Could someone from your family come and pick you up? I have orders from Cooper not to leave the plane since I'll be flying without guards."

"He's letting you travel without your shadows?" Kurt asks surprised.

"The guards aren't supposed to take unnecessary risks and apparently getting on a plane with me when I'm perfectly safe on my own would counts as one. You should feel honored though that you're not perceived a threat to me anymore. Not many people are allowed to be alone with me these days."

"As long as I can bring all my stuff I promise to keep my hands to myself while you're flying so I don't endanger the Crown Prince," Kurt says with a teasing smile on his face.

Blaine loves that smile. He's also surprised Kurt agreed so easily when he's father's plane crash hasn't been too long ago. He'd waited for the report before he went flying again himself because if there had been a technical issue he needed to know, but as it turned out the pilot had suffered a stroke and had lost control over the plane and crashed it into the mountains before any of the passengers on board could intervene. The report had concluded that it was likely that the King and the other passengers were asleep when the pilot lost control, since King Richard was a trained pilot himself and should have been able to stabilize the plane in time had the pilot's stroke been noticed immediately. There hadn't been a co-pilot since it was a small plane, the flight time less than five hours and the King could fly the plane himself in case of emergency - or so everyone had thought.

"Tell me how much you intend to bring so I know if I need to get a bigger plane," Blaine jokes because he knows by now that his boyfriend doesn't usually travel as lightly as he did when they ran off to Ohio together.

On Kurt's end, a young woman pops her head into the dressing room Kurt's sharing with his fellow cast members to tell him he's expected back on stage in five minutes.

"I'm really sorry I can't come to your opening night," Blaine apologizes not for the first time.

"It's okay," Kurt shrugs. "You can come and see it when we're official."

"And I'll come to your next opening night," Blaine promises.

"Ha," Kurt laughs self - deprecatingly. "I like that you think there will be a next one when you haven't even seen me perform yet."

"You went to Tisch, of course there will be a next one," Blaine rolls his eyes. Sometimes he wonders how Kurt even got into NYU when he has so little faith in himself.

"Yes, you're right," Kurt nods but Blaine can tell he doesn't fully believe it himself. There's nothing Blaine can do however but support Kurt and hopefully see his show in the next few months so he has an actual basis for his praise.

Before Kurt runs off, Blaine tells him to be ready by ten on the twenty-fourth because Blaine's expected at the Palace for Christmas Eve celebrations and needs to make it back in time.

"Are you flying me back too or should I book a ticket? I need to be back in the city on the twenty-sixth," Kurt reminds him and Blaine promises to come pick him up unless Kurt hates flying with him the first time around before ending the call and exiting the car with Sam and Puck in tow for his 'American Trade Treaties since the 19th Century' class.

"That's pretty small," Kurt gulps as he stands in front of the single engine propeller Cessna while Puck loads his suitcases into the small space behind the cockpit.

"Hey, it's okay if you've changed your mind," the Prince gives his hand a brief squeeze. "I'm sure we can still find you a regular flight to Ohio if this is too scary for you."

Kurt's faced plenty of scary things in the last six months. He's learned how to ride a horse, tried to convince the King to let him date his brother, he's just stood on a professional stage for the first time and didn't forget his lines, he doesn't freak out anymore when people whisper about him behind his back and he and Blaine are about to go public with their relationship. He's not gonna be scared off by a plane.

"So how do I get in this thing?"

Once the plane speeds down the runway, Kurt closes his eyes nonetheless because he's been on a plane twice - both times stuck in an aisle seat - and has never seen his surroundings fly by like this before. But Blaine gets them up in the air and eventually Kurt opens his eyes again and gasps when he sees the skyline of Manhattan underneath them.

"Wow," he exclaims. "I think I get it now why you love flying."

The Prince holds his hand during most of the flight after promising that 'no, Kurt, that's not dangerous' and 'I like you way too much to crash this plane'.

Kurt still feels giddy every time Blaine says 'I love you' because it's barely been two months since the first time and they only ever say it when they're absolutely certain that they are alone.

While Blaine holds his hand, they talk about what's Christmas is going to be like for them. For the Prince it means camera crews who'll record the royal family's holiday messages to the kingdom, listening to carolers from Crown supported orphanages, a dinner with Palace staff and the family's personal guards as well as handing out gifts to everyone working at the Palace and then later on a more private dinner with his grandmother Queen Ruth and great grandmother Queen Cathryn and Blaine's grandparents on his mother's side. For Kurt it means eggnog with his dad and Carole and crazy stories from his father's sister and Carole's mom. It's going to be small and intimate since neither the Hummels nor Carole have any other relatives in the area and before bed, he and his dad will exchange one present, a tradition started by Kurt's late mother.

"Are you nervous?" Kurt asks the Prince when the plane starts to descend over Ohio. "You know since your mother…" he trails off not wanting to openly insult Queen Pamela.

Blaine shrugs. "Grandma and great grandma don't know yet because no one's told them, but I'm not asking for anyone's approval. Cooper and I will just let the family know what's gonna happen and if they support me, great, if they don't support me, I'll live."

"And your mom's parents?"

"They are rich snobs who think they're better than everyone else because their daughter married into the royal family. I don't give a fuck what they think."

Kurt smiles because it's so rare to hear Blaine swear and Kurt's been watching his language in public too to prove that he does not need etiquette classes like a child.

"We'll have my family's support," he assures the Prince, because while his dad might worry about Kurt having a public relationship with the Crown Prince, he'll definitely be supportive.

Blaine expertly lands the plane and Kurt kisses him briefly before two men wearing the royal crest on their coveralls reach the plane.

"Call me after you've talked to your family," Kurt says before the door is opened and Kurt helped out of the plane.

"Thank you for flying me, Your Highness," he tells the Prince with a bow when he's back on the ground and his luggage loaded into a golf cart, since he can feel the men's eyes on him.

"It was my pleasure," Blaine beams, paying no attention to the security guards himself. 'We'll you be flying with me again?"

"I'd love to," Kurt replies with a smile on his face before he takes a seat in the back of the golf cart and is driven off to a hangar.

His dad greets him with a warm hug when Kurt leaves the base asking him all sorts of questions about Blaine as soon as they reach his pickup truck. He's family knows he's been seeing the Prince. Kurt's been keeping them up to date because he knows they won't talk to the press and Carole had been disappointed when they didn't see Blaine at Kurt's opening night since she thought he was such a nice young man. His dad had teased her good-naturedly and told Kurt to watch out before Carole stole his prince.

"That must have raised some eyebrows - the Prince flying you here," his dad observes as they drive toward Lima, but Kurt shrugs.

"It's a royal airbase, no one there would say anything."

"Still, with the way you told it, I didn't think the King would allow it."

"Yeah, about that," Kurt fiddles with the ends of his scarf in his lap. "I have something to tell the family tonight."

They have stopped at a red light and his dad looks at him with a slight frown on his face.

"Any chance you'll tell me now?" Kurt shakes his head. What he's going to say concerns his whole family since it wouldn't surprise him if the press contacted all his family members once he and Blaine go public.

He can tell his dad's not happy with the answer but he doesn't ask again and Kurt gets him to talk about the shop and the Christmas party Burt's held for his employees since they didn't have much time to talk when his parents were in New York for opening night.

His aunt and Carole's mom, who insists that Kurt calls her grandma, are already at the house when he and his dad arrive, watching the _Nutcracker on Ice_ on TV and his dad sighs dramatically.

"I don't suppose you're going to help me out this year and vote for watching ice hockey," he says when Kurt takes a seat on the couch after kissing the ladies on the cheek.

"Sorry, Dad."

He waits until the program is over, drinking hot cocoa with a shot of rum while he tries not to ogle the dancers in tights too much in front of his dad, but when it's over, he turns off the TV and addresses his family.

"So you know that King Cooper's coronation is next week?"

Everyone nods because they don't live under a rock and Kurt takes a deep breath.

"After, the Palace will release a statement confirming that Prince Blaine and I have been dating for six months."

As he looks around the room for reactions, his dad looks worried, Carole excited, his aunt confused and Carole's mom shocked.

"Wait, you're dating him. I thought you only…" his aunt trails off, but grandma Penny rolls her eyes.

"You can say hook up. I may be old now, but I was young once and we had urges too."

"Mom," Carole turns bright red and his dad hides a laugh behind a fake cough while Kurt wishes the earth would swallow him whole because if even grandma Penny knows about his one night stand then there probably really aren't many people who haven't heard about it. He shudders when he thinks about Mrs. Danvers, his childhood piano teacher who used to pinch his cheeks or his preschool teacher Ms. Carlton.

"Yes, we are a couple and King Cooper has agreed to release a statement. He won't come out and support us directly because he's been advised against it, but the Palace will acknowledge that Prince Blaine is in a relationship with me. I wanted to let you know before we go public since we expect the media to come knocking again. I'd appreciate if you don't say anything in case you're contacted by any reporters."

There, he's said it and now he can enjoy his dad's eggnog and help Carole with the turkey.

"Does he treat you well, the young Prince?" grandma Penny asks and Kurt nods. "Good. You're a nice boy, Kurt, you deserve a nice boyfriend."

"Yes, we're all happy for Kurt, but what I want to know is, is the King still single and when can I meet him?" his aunt, who's nearly twenty years Cooper's senior, jokes after giving Kurt a hug and Kurt tells her to get in line because Rachel has already called dips in case she breaks up with her boyfriend.

"And you're sure that's what you want Kurt? Because it hasn't been too long since your face was in all the papers and they said some pretty nasty things about you," his dad says with a frown on his face, but Kurt nods.

"The press has already published everything they had on me, and I've had media training since, been vetted by the Palace and have been following all their rules. I know Blaine and I will be under scrutiny and people will just wait for us to mess up and make fools of ourselves in public, but we've talked things through and I know what's expected of me when I'm with him. You should be happy, Dad. I've been much better behaved since I was told the rules for dating the Prince," he adds with a teasing smile because it's true. Since Sue's visit, he hasn't had more than two drinks in public, was watching his language, didn't snap his fingers at waiters anymore and most importantly, didn't pick up another guy at a bar. He spends nearly every night he's not at the theater at home, usually with Blaine, and days off are usually spent horse riding at the club.

"You know you have our support," his dad tells him and pulls him into a hug. "But I gotta be honest. I'd very much prefer it if you were seeing a regular guy, someone you can bring home for Christmas and with whom you don't have to watch what you say or do every time you leave your apartment."

Kurt doesn't tell him, that sometimes he does too. Sometimes he wants to be a normal twenty-two year old college grad who goes out and gets shit-faced with his cast members instead of going home early so he's not tempted to have more than a drink or two. At the moment, half of them think he's stuck up and thinks he's too good for them, while the other half thinks he's super boring. Hopefully, they'll understand once he and Blaine are official, because he wants to have a good relationship with the people he's going to spend the next six months with.

"I know we're young," he tells his dad instead, "but we think we could have a future together. We're not stupid, we know that maybe I'll just be his first boyfriend and that we might break up at some point, but that shouldn't stop him from having a relationship that's out in the open and that makes him happy."

"It shouldn't stop you either," his dad points out. "You shouldn't have to hide for some guy."

"And I won't much longer and he's not just some guy."

"Yeah, yeah, I know he's the Prince but that doesn't mean…" Kurt interrupts him before his dad can finish.

"That's not what I meant. He's not just some guy because I love him and he loves me. I wouldn't do all that for just any guy."

And then he tries not to cry when his whole family pulls him into a group hug.

* * *

They've recorded their holiday messages, had dinner with the staff and handed out presents, but now that he's alone with the extended royal family, Blaine works hard to keep his hands from shaking. He's been up to the balcony three times already since arriving at the Palace, one time bumping into Cooper who's also nervous about going against his family and supporting his brother. He's confessed his habit to Kurt a few weeks ago, because they're trying this total honesty thing, and predictably his boyfriend is not a fan, especially because he's a trained singer, but he's also told Blaine that he's a grown man and could decide for himself what he did or didn't do at least in some aspects of his life. 'Just don't expect me to kiss you after you've had one of those things,' Kurt's said, his nose wrinkled adorably, but that was an easy thing to promise.

When he returns from his latest trip, after brushing his teeth, everyone's already sat down for family dinner and Blaine takes a seat next to Cooper who's head of the table.

"How nice of you to join us," his mother says snidely and Blaine rolls his eyes, because apart from the servers they are alone now and no one will judge him for arriving a few minutes late. Well, no one but his mom and her family.

He tries to tune out the conversations around him, his grandfather boasting about a business deal he landed even though he's retired and his maternal grandmother gushing about her granddaughter who just got engaged to an investment banker. He and Cooper both squirm in their seats when they're asked about girlfriends and when Cooper's finally going to announce his engagement to a nice woman.

"It can't be too hard to find a nice young lady now that you've repealed that law. Can't say I fault you for that, it must have been near impossible to find one before," his grandfather booms from the other end of the table. "Women are so much more liberal these days."

His grandfather's affairs are an open secret in the family, but like a lot of things they are tolerated as long as the press doesn't get wind of it.

After sharing a look with Cooper, Blaine straightens his spine and takes a deep breath.

"Actually," he says, "I've been seeing someone for the last six months and Cooper has signed off on a Palace announcement after his coronation."

His mother's eyes find him and her expression says, 'don't you dare, Blaine.'

"I'm confused, Pamela, Blaine's grandmother says. "I thought Blaine is engaged to that lovely young Lady Charlotte."

"They ended their engagement," his mother says through gritted teeth.

"Oh, leave him alone," her father says. "The boy's way too young to be tide down by just one girl."

"It's not a girl." That gets everyone's attention.

"I don't understand," ninety-two year old Queen Cathryn says. "How can you see someone if it's not a girl."

Queen Ruth's eyes widen in shock and understanding and she leans over to her mother to say rather loudly.

"Oh for heaven's sake, mother. He's saying he's one of those queers."

"But he can't be a queer," Queen Cathryn frowns. "He's a prince."

"Exactly," Blaine's mother glares at him. "And we thought that Richard had gotten through to him, but it seems since his father's death, Blaine's been lacking a proper male role model."

"Hey," Cooper protests. "And I'm sorry Mom, grandma, great grandma, but I'm with Blaine. I've met the young man he's in a relationship with and they are in love, just like a man and a woman."

"Is he at least royal?" Queen Cathryn asks, born and raised at a time when marriage between royals and commoners was impossible.

"Um, no. He's father owns a car shop and his stepmother is a nurse," Blaine admits. "He's father remarried a few years after his mother died," he adds for the benefit of the old folks who do not believe in divorcees remarrying.

"Doesn't sound like a good match," Queen Ruth frowns, while Peter Anderson says, "a business man, Blaine could do worse."

Blaine's honestly surprised that his grandfather seems to be the one sticking up for him, because his whole family is very conservative, privately supporting the conservative party and prime minister Grey.

"I value your input," Blaine says politely, remembering his manners, "but Cooper has agreed to let me go public with my relationship and that's what I'm going to do. I would like your support in this, but I will understand if you for whatever reason can't give it. Kurt will be at Cooper's coronation, at an appropriate distance," he adds quickly when his mother opens her mouth to protest, "and I would very much like to bring him to the Palace after to meet my family."

"You will not bring that boy here," his mother says immediately. "Cooper, I don't know what you think you are doing when everyone's told you to stay out of this, but I'm going to have to accept your decision. But I will not welcome this boy into our home. It's improper for a member of the royal family to be a homosexual and you know it."

"The Crown will not be endorsing Blaine's relationship, mother," Cooper sighs, and it still hurts even though Blaine knows why Cooper's not publicly supporting him, "but it will acknowledge the relationship just like it would have done if Blaine had been dating a woman for six months. The people in this country are more supportive of same sex relationships these days and we do not want people to think that Blaine's being forced back into the closet. All I'm doing is trying to strike a balance between what many of my subjects want and what the Church wants. Please respect my decision since it's final."

Cooper sounds tired and Blaine wishes his brother would open up to him too. He tried to find out more about the woman Cooper disappeared with during Halloween, but his brother said it was nothing, just a woman asking about joining the royal guard, and Blaine can't force his brother to talk, especially since he needs an appointment most days to get to talk to him.

"Is he at least good looking?" Queen Ruth asks after a pregnant pause. "He can't be ugly if he's going to be photographed with you." His grandmother, ever the pragmatist.

Blaine waits until there plates have been cleared before he looks through his phone for a picture of Kurt and when he finds one of Kurt sitting regally on the horse he's been riding at the club, he hands the phone to his grandmother.

"Your mother is right, you should be with a young lady, but if you can't control yourself and have to be with a man I guess he will do," Queen Ruth degrees after studying Kurt's picture for a moment.

Luckily, desert is served then and Blaine busies himself with stuffing his face with chocolate cake to avoid having to talk more about Kurt. Unfortunately though, his mother pulls him aside before he can run off to his bedroom in the Palace.

"I'm glad your father isn't here to witness this," she tells him. "I never agreed with him until now, but you are a disappointment."

"I'm sorry you feel this way," he replies through clenched teeth before he lets himself be led from the room by his brother who steers him to the second floor, their guards in tow as usual.

To his surprise, Cooper hands him a bottle of _Jack Daniels_ when they reach their balcony that he must have nicked from the drink cart in the living room.

"Drink up, Squirt," his brother, the King, tells him. "After tonight, I think we both need it."

* * *

Kurt's dressed in his best suit as he stands in the back of St. Patrick's cathedral with the other mere mortals lucky enough to get to see the coronation from within the Church. They have to wait more than an hour before the King's carriage draws up outside, the crowd's cheers following King Cooper into the Church. The King's wearing ceremonial robes in cobalt blue as he strides down the middle aisle, followed by the immediate royal family also dressed in ceremonial robes and coronets. The front rows are filled with Kings and Queens from around the world on one side, and members of parliament on the other and Kurt strains to keep Blaine in view when his boyfriend kneels down behind his brother.

The ceremony is performed by the Archbishop and Kurt listens with rapt attention when Cooper swears an oath to uphold the law and the Church before he is whisked away to a small side chamber where he is anointed with holy oil. When Blaine's brother returns, he is invested with regalia before King Richard's ceremonial crown is placed on his head for the first time. One after the other, the members of the royal family step forward to kneel before the King after which the prime minister and senior government officials follow their lead.

Kurt's not one of the few selected commoners who also step forward to swear their fealty to the King, since he's supposed to stay in the shadows until the Palace's statement, but Blaine manages a brief smile in his direction when the service ends with the closing procession.

There will be a banquet at the Palace for the King's family and all foreign dignitaries, but Kurt doesn't follow the carriage toward the Palace since he knows he's not welcome there. At least not yet. King Cooper wants to wait for the public's reaction to Blaine's relationship, before he'll extends an official invitation to the Palace to Kurt whether Queen Pamela likes it or not.

Also, he doesn't want to be out and about when the Palace releases the statement and thrusts him back into the lime light, and so he heads home to Brooklyn while the people of New York follow King Cooper's carriage to the Palace.

* * *

 _By Order of The Crown of America, The Royal Family of Virginia_

 _The Palace confirms that His Royal Highness Crown Prince Blaine Devon James, heir presumptive to the Crown of America, has been in a committed relationship with Ohio born actor Kurt Hummel since July. The Palace would also like to ask for the young couple's privacy as they navigate their increasingly public relationship. Please direct any questions at Palace Press Secretary Emma Pillsbury as there will be no interviews with either the Crown Prince or Mr. Hummel._

* * *

The next day, Kurt has five hundred new friend requests on Facebook and the play's sold out. But none of that matters, because he's finally allowed to visit Blaine at Richmond House, where they will be able to be together without guards constantly breathing down their necks.

Paparazzi are waiting for him when his cab pulls up in front of the Prince's home, but Kurt holds his head up high and gives them his best show smile. He's got this.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:** Sorry for the delay but I needed to write 11, 12 and 13 before I posted this to make sure I hadn't written myself into a corner. Also I hope the Argentinian girl sitting next to me on the bus really didn't speak any English like she told me when I tried to switch from horrible Spanish to English because otherwise writing a sex scene next to her might have been a tad bit awkward ;)

Next chapter will come tomorrow and if I'm not hit with sudden writer's block, I may be able to finish this in time for Christmas :)

* * *

 **Chapter 10 of 15**

Richmond House is not a house, it's a mansion, Kurt decides when he's led by Sam through a maze of hallways to the back of the house where the living room is situated. The Prince's sitting at a beautiful concert grand piano playing Beethoven's Moonlight sonata, but he stops immediately when Kurt steps into the room.

"Hi," he smiles softly and quickly crosses the room to kiss Kurt hello.

"I'll be in the kitchen with Puck if you need us," Sam says and then they are gloriously alone.

The house is decorated with modern furniture in a very minimalistic style that Blaine seems to like even though he didn't do any decorating himself. Apart from the wall behind the piano which is painted purple, all other walls are dove grey and the furniture is either black or white. Kurt definitely approves.

"I hope the paparazzi didn't give you too much trouble," Blaine says when they sit down on a large white couch together and the Prince wraps his arm around Kurt's shoulder. "They were already here when I came home from the Palace last night."

"Lots of yelling my name and pictures, but I just pretended that I was walking the red carpet at the Oscars," Kurt shrugs. "I don't mind, as long as they don't find out where I live and follow me there."

"Is it too soon to ask you to just move in with me so you don't have to worry about that," the Prince asks but he sounds like he knows Kurt's answer will be 'yes, it's too soon.'

"Maybe in a year or so, if you still want me then," Kurt yawns and snuggles into Blaine's chest.

Even though he didn't go out last night to celebrate the new year, he's tired, because he stayed up till three googling himself to see what the press was saying about the statement. There wasn't much yet though, just a rehashing of what had been printed six months ago, most sites printing the statement and doing a 'here's what we know so far about Kurt Hummel.'

"I'm pretty sure, I'll always want you," Blaine kisses the top of his head and Kurt's glad they're alone and no one's witnessing this exchange because it's sappy even for them.

"Tell me about last night. Was it exciting?" Kurt asks because it must be when you are in a room with royalty from all over the world.

"I thought it was pretty boring actually. All the other Kings and Queens are much older and all everyone asked was when Cooper's going to get married and if he'd like to meet their daughters."

"Did they say anything to you?"

The Palace's statement was released shortly before midnight when Cooper's coronation party was still in full swing.

"The Queen of France was quite nice about it. She said it was about time America left the stone age and joined Europe in the 21st century because according to her I could be gay and King in most kingdoms in Europe."

"Well, most is a bit of an exaggeration," Kurt rolls his eyes. He's read up on the monarchy at home and elsewhere since dating the Prince, especially interested in how homosexuality is handled in other king- and queendoms. "There's only France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Luxembourg that accept children born through surrogates as legitimate heirs."

"Look at you," Blaine says teasingly. "Mr. I get all my news from Twitter and Facebook."

Kurt slaps his shoulder playfully and pouts until Blaine kisses him.

"You know, Emma's got me subscriptions to like five newspapers and I'm always afraid she'll pop up and quiz me if I don't read them. Seriously, at this point I wonder how much more training Cooper's future wife could even get when I already have to jump through all those hoops to get to date you."

"She'd have to learn French and Spanish if she doesn't speak it already, never leave the house without having her hair and make up done professionally and her clothes approved by a stylist, she'd have her own guards following her around and she'd have to appear at at least one charity event every month. And trust me, if she doesn't get pregnant soon after the wedding, there would be talk too. The public gave my grandmother hell because she couldn't have more children after my father."

"And then everyone seems surprised that your brother hasn't found a wife yet," Kurt quips. "That's a hell of a lot of requirements for a job with not much real power."

"Well, the power is the influence a Queen consort or a Queen has on whoever's in charge. No one else gets this close to the King or the Queen, not even his or her top advisors and a lot of people are attracted to this kind of power," Blaine explains as they're snuggled together on the couch, the room warm from the open fireplace while outside snow's starting to fall.

"Are you? I mean if you could marry whoever you want and got offered the throne would you want to be King?"

Blaine's quiet for a long time before he answers. "I think I could do a lot of good for the Kingdom because I could veto all conservative bills and support the ones that want to give everyone in America equal rights, affordable health care and so on. But it's a moot question since I can't be in a same sex relationship and be King, at least not in this Kingdom."

Kurt doesn't want Blaine to ever ascend the throne either for obvious reasons because he knows Blaine would always choose the Crown over him. It hurts and so he hopes and prays that Cooper will live a long life with many children who will push Blaine further down in the line of succession so his boyfriend will never have to make that decision.

"But can we stop talking about my brother now? I finally have you all to myself and I'd much rather have you sing with me."

Kurt agrees with a smile on his face to duet with Blaine on _Let it Snow_ , and they sit close together on the piano bench while Blaine plays and the snow keeps falling outside.

* * *

"His Majesty wants to change another royal law?" Prime Minister Thomas Grey asks with a frown on his pudgy red face. "Has His Majesty spoken to the bishops about this, because this is highly unusual and we can't in good conscience back it if His Majesty doesn't have the support of the Church behind him."

It's the Prime Minister's weekly audience at the Palace and Cooper decided that it's time to put his plan into action because if he succeeds, he can marry Sarah and get rid of the throne.

"I will of course meet with the bishops first before we proceed," Cooper assures the Prime Minister, "but legally, it's the support of parliament that I need to be able to make this change."

"Maybe if His Majesty explained why he wants to change a law that has worked for the royal family for centuries."

Yeah, no, Cooper thinks. At least not his real reason.

"I wouldn't necessarily say that it had worked for centuries. Look at my grandparents or Queen Camilla just in the last hundred and fifty years. The house of Virginia has only survived this long because the royal family used to be a big family with lots of potential heirs on hand. But all those royal laws don't work so well in the 21st century anymore."

Prime Minister Grey looks unconvinced but Cooper expected opposition, at least at first.

"What do I have to do to gain your support?" he asks, trying to keep his cool and not sound like he would be indebted to the Prime Minister if parliament approves his plan.

"The government needs to know that His Majesty has the Church's backing; that His Majesty as head of Church is not working against the Church."

"Alright," Cooper agrees, though he knows that's easier said than done.

* * *

Kurt's changed back into his own clothes after his first performance since he and Blaine went public a few days ago. The applause was longer than usual, the crowd cheering and whistling when Kurt took his bow, making his face flush because the whole cast is amazing and he feels weird about being singled out like that. A hand on his shoulder stops him however before he can walk out stage door to sign a few programs. They are off Broadway and relatively unknown compared to the big Broadway hits, but every night there are a few people who want their programs signed or just tell the cast how much they enjoyed the show. Kurt lives for those moments.

"I'm sorry Kurt, but you can't do stage door tonight. Gary's making the announcement right now," Peter, the stage manager, tells him.

"Why not?" Kurt frowns.

"It's crazy out there," Peter explains. "There are at least two hundred people and that's without the camera crews. We're not Broadway, Kurt, we don't have any barriers we can put up or security to help keep the crowd in check."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Kurt asks a little shellshocked because he honestly didn't expect that.

Because this is New York and New Yorkers are used to celebrities and sightings of the royal family. With so many Oscar winners on Broadway stages these days, why would anyone try to meet Kurt Hummel at stage door?

"Gary's telling them you left straight away so we're hoping that people will give up quickly and leave. One of the interns is going to take you out the front door as soon as the theater's empty and will put you in a cab we have waiting for you."

It's another hour before Peter deems it safe for Kurt to leave the theater and Kurt hopes he gets paid the hour he was babysitting Kurt. A few cameras go off when he walks briskly through the front doors and into the cab, the paparazzi not as easily fooled as the autograph seekers but there's nothing he can do about that.

"Where to?" the cab driver asks and Kurt instructs him to just start driving because he doesn't know yet.

"Can I come to yours?" he asks without preamble when Blaine answers his call. "There were a lot of paparazzi at the theater and I think one of them is following my car on a moped."

"Shit, Kurt. I'm sorry, I'm not home, I'm at the Palace."

"It's okay. Maybe I'm just paranoid," Kurt backtracks immediately because he doesn't want Blaine to feel obligate to rush home so Kurt can go to Richmond House. "I'll ask the driver to drop me off at a subway station and take the train home."

"You know what, screw it. Mom's in Paris and Cooper's not gonna kick you out when he finds out. Tell the cab driver to take you to 5th Ave and E 82nd street. That's the delivery entrance. I'll make sure Palace Security lets you in."

"Are you sure that's okay? I don't want to cause any trouble with your family."

"Yeah, screw them. I'll see you in a bit."

Kurt tells the cab driver the address who fortunately keeps his mouth shut and just inputs it into his GPS.

The gate at the delivery entrance is much smaller than the one on 85th street and after paying the cab, Kurt waits until the car's driven off before he approaches the guard house where a man wearing a uniform displaying the royal crest on his chest is watching the entrance.

"Um, hi. My name's Kurt Hummel. I should be on the list. If there is a list. I'm sorry, I don't know how this works," he rambled and curses himself for being so nervous.

It's nearly midnight, so hopefully Blaine will be able to sneak him to his room before anyone notices Kurt's visit.

The guard presses a button inside the guard station and a steel door opens for Kurt.

"I have to screen your bag and pat you down," the guard informs him and Kurt acquiesces.

When he's satisfied that Kurt doesn't pose a threat, he points to a chair.

"Please have a seat for a moment, I will let His Highness' guards know you are here."

Kurt only has to wait a few minutes, before Mike, one of Blaine's night guards appears.

"Nice to see you again, Kurt," Mike greets him. They've me before when Kurt stayed at the club with Blaine. "I'll take you to His Highness."

They enter the Palace through a side door and Kurt finds himself in an area that had been part of the tour he took with Rachel their first year in the city. The hallways are empty when Mike leads him through the building, up the stairs and past where a rope had signaled the end of the public area. Kurt thinks that Blaine was right when he described the Palace as a museum. Even on the upper floors, the wall are decorated with paintings of Blaine's ancestors, hunting scenes and landscapes and the floors are made of marble. It doesn't look like anyone actually lives here, though Kurt knows that the family has their living quarters on the third floor.

Matt is standing guard in front of a set of large wooden double doors that he knocks on when Kurt approaches with Mike.

"Kurt's here," he announces.

The doors open after a few seconds and then Blaine smiles at him, dressed in flannel pajamas pants and a soft looking grey henley. The Prince takes his hands and pulls him into the room letting his guards close the door behind them. Then they kiss briefly in the Prince's small sitting room - nothing more than a peck - before Blaine leads him through another set of double doors into his bedroom. It is more modern than the rest of the Palace but it looks like the room of a boy who was barely ever home during his teenage years. Kurt's bedroom in Ohio still has the posters on the wall that he hung when he was fifteen and the bookshelf is field with young adult fiction. Blaine's bedroom however, is bare apart from the queen sized bed, a dresser and an armchair next to the window.

"I'm sorry about the paparazzi," the Prince says when they are seated side by side on the bed holding hands. "They were at my place again too though I don't know what for. All I do is walk out to the car and be driven off. I just hope it will quiet down a bit before I start classes next week, because I don't think the school's going to be happy if cameras keep following me around."

"But there were always pictures of you at Harvard too. There were at least two new ones every week in _Royal News_ ," Kurt says, blushing like he always does when admitting to having subscribed to the gossip magazine.

"But they weren't so in your face about it. I usually didn't even know they were there until my picture was in the papers. But now they keep yelling questions at me and shoving their cameras in my face even though the statement said clearly that we won't give any interviews."

There isn't much they can do about the reporters though because everyone had warned them this would happen, but Kurt still keeps his fingers crossed that the press will soon lose interest in them again.

"Let's forget about them for now and go to bed. Can I borrow a t-shirt to sleep in?"

"You don't really think I'll let you wear a shirt when I finally have you in my bed again," the Prince replies huskily, his hands already working on the buttons of Kurt's winter coat, but it's nothing new that Blaine's perpetually horny.

"It's not that warm in here," Kurt protests without much heat.

"I'll just have to warm you then."

The Prince throws Kurt's coat onto the armchair before working on Kurt's next layers, his mouth never far from Kurt's lips, jaw and neck while he does so. Kurt lets the Prince do all the work for now though he has to stop him when Blaine sucks a little too enthusiastically on his neck.

"No hickeys," he reminds the Prince. "At least not anywhere the audience could see," he adds with what he hopes is a sultry voice.

Blaine moves his mouth from Kurt's neck only to whisper into his ear 'challenge accepted' and biting his ear lobe.

"Your guards?" Kurt asks because he doesn't know if he can keep quiet much longer if Blaine keeps up his ministrations.

"They're outside but this room is pretty sound proof, I promise," Blaine whispers and Kurt caves.

He's being undressed by an incredibly hot prince in said prince's palace bedroom and he's only human after all. More and more of his clothes land on Blaine's arm chair until Kurt's down to his underwear and quickly strips the Prince out of his pajamas.

"What do you want?" he asks Blaine, and bites his bottom lip to stifle a moan when the Prince strokes Kurt's hard dick over his underwear.

"I wanna blow you." It's a stupid question really because Blaine always wants to blow him. "I wanna blow you until you're all desperate and then I wanna ride you in my childhood bedroom. I can't think of a better fuck you to my family."

"You don't need to convince me," Kurt pants when the Prince starts kissing down his chest, paying special attention to Kurt's sensitive nipples before moving further down and starts operation drive Kurt crazy.

It doesn't take long before Kurt grips the thin sheet and wills his body to hold on a bit longer, because the best is still to come. And then Blaine ruins it all when he pulls off and crawls up Kurt's body to whisper into his ear.

"I got myself ready for you the moment you hung up the phone."

Kurt's toes curl and he comes with Blaine's name on his lips before he muffles his moans by stuffing his fist into his mouth and biting down on his knuckles.

"You can't say things like that and expect me to last," he pants but Blaine looks like the cat that's got the canary.

"You're twenty - two and I know for a fact that your recovery time is amazing," the Prince says smugly, before he pulls a half empty bottle of lube from underneath his pillow. "Maybe you should check I'm still good to go in the meantime."

Kurt groans when his dick tries to harden again but it's too soon and Blaine's going to be the death of him. The Prince kisses him deep and dirty before scraping his teeth over Kurt's pulse point and somehow manages to coat the fingers of Kurt's right hand with lube at the same time.

"Please," Blaine begs and who is Kurt to deny a prince.

By the time he's got the Prince fucking himself on three of Kurt's fingers, his dick's with the program again and Kurt moans when Blaine covers it with lube, unceremoniously wiping his hand on the sheets before he pushes Kurt onto his back and the Prince climbs on top of him. Blaine doesn't waste any time and before long he's got Kurt chanting his name again and when Blaine comes and clenches around Kurt, he's quick to follow the Prince.

"Oh my god," Kurt exclaims mortified when they come down from their highs. "There's no way they didn't hear us."

Blaine sighs. "There will always be guards in the vicinity as long as I'm Crown Prince."

"If you're going to start singing _Take Me or Leave Me,_ I will punch you," Kurt threatens, his cheeks still bright red, because really, they were loud. It was like Blaine wanted his father all the way across the park in his grave to hear them.

"I'm sorry. I'll try to make it less good next time so we're quieter," Blaine quips and Kurt rolls his eyes at his ridiculous boyfriend.

"You really have no shame."

"I went to boarding school, Kurt. If you wanted to jerk off you had to learn to live with the knowledge that your roommate nearly always knew when you did it. And I like having sex with you, so I'm not going to pretend that I don't. Weren't you the one that told me that I shouldn't feel ashamed about enjoying sex with men?"

Yeah, that dummy was him. But it's not that he's ashamed of enjoying sex with Blaine, he just finds it very embarrassing when other people know when they're having it and how much Kurt enjoys it.

"If it's any consolation, Mike and Matt won't mention it. If it were Puck and Sam, we'd probably have to fist bump them, but Mike and Matt are much more discreet. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, it seems like I did give you a hickey but I'm like ninety-eight percent sure that your costume will cover it."

Kurt smacks him with a pillow but doesn't struggle when Blaine pushes the sheet to the floor and covers them with his comforter before pulling Kurt into his arms.

"But seriously, we are okay, right?" he asks with a yawn.

"Yeah, we are. I don't think I'll ever not be embarrassed but fortunately for you, you're too hot for me to seriously consider abstinence."

Blaine pulls him even closer and Kurt rolls his eyes. "But stop poking me. We're not doing it again tonight."

* * *

The next morning, they are woken by banging, but not the good kind.

"Prince Shortpants get your butt out here. You too Porcelain."

"Whasup?" Kurt mumbles and then quickly wipes the corner of his mouth because drooling unattractively in his sleeps seems unbecoming for the boyfriend of a prince.

Who doesn't fare much better.

"Go away," he calls in the direction of the door. "'S too early."

"I'm gonna count till ten and then I'm going to override your lock, so you better get dressed before you scar me for life."

To Kurt's surprise, Blaine immediately scrambles out of bed and frantically puts on his underwear before rushing to his armchair and throwing Kurt's at him.

"She isn't seriously…" Kurt looks at the Prince in confusion who grimaces.

"She would." That gets Kurt out of bed too, scrambling to put his underwear and his undershirt on.

On '9' Blaine throws the outer doors open, having actually managed to put his pajama pants and his shirt on as well and Sue thrusts her iPad into his hands.

Open is a page of the Online Edition of _Royal News_ and printed over a picture of Blaine's mother photographed on the Champs-Elysées next to one of Kurt standing in front of the guard house is **When The Cat's Away, The Mice Come out To Play.** Underneath is a short piece about Kurt going to the Palace last night before an official invitation had been issued to him and speculation on whether the Crown Prince had waited till his mother was out of the country before unofficially inviting his boyfriend over.

"Oh look, they called me your boyfriend," he calls over his shoulder to Kurt who's lacing up his DocMartins but the smile on his face disappears quickly when Sue glares at him.

"You know I hate surprises. That's why you tell me these things so I don't hear it from the press. Because my job's to keep you out of the media. But how can I do that if I don't know what I'm keeping out?" Sue lectures him, making him feel all of twelve years old when he got his first lecture from Sue Sylvester about behaving in public.

"Sorry, Sue. It was a spur of the moment thing because there were paparazzi at the theater and Kurt didn't want to lead them to his apartment."

"So, he led them here instead," Sue glares. "The King's already under pressure from the Church to distance himself from you and now you bring Porcelain to the Palace. I will get King Pretty to sign off on a statement from you in which you'll say that you snuck him in behind the King's back because for the time being, it can't look like he's invited Porcelain here."

"Of course it can't," Blaine says bitterly but the problem is that if he were in Cooper's shoes he'd act exactly the same to keep the peace between Crown and Church.

"Should I leave right now?" Kurt asks now fully dressed.

"I'll send you home with a car - just this once," Sue narrows her eyes at Kurt who nods in understanding. "And you," she turns back to Blaine. "Better start apologizing to your mother and explain to your brother why you're trying to complicate his life even more than it already is."

"Yes Sue, sorry Sue." Then he presses a quick kiss to Kurt's cheek. "Call me when you're home safe and I'll figure out something for tonight."

Kurt walks away with Puck and Blaine winces when Puck raises his fist for a fist bump, before he follows Sam and Sue toward Cooper's office.

* * *

It's not enough that he had to chastise his brother this morning for sneaking Kurt into the Palace, no, now he has to meet with the archbishop and convince him that changing this law would be in the best interest of the royal family. But unsurprisingly, all the archbishop wants to talk about is Kurt's presence at the Palace.

"Your Eminence, I've already had a talk with my brother this morning and he understands that this sort of behavior is unacceptable for the Crown Prince of America. There will be a statement in the press later, in which Blaine will set the record straight that he brought Mr. Hummel to the Palace without my permission."

"I see. But Your Majesty, I fear that won't be enough. I think it is time that you openly adopt the church' stance on homosexuality and tell your subjects that you don't support the Crown Prince's unnatural behavior."

Cooper grits his teeth and takes a few calming breaths because no one gets to call Blaine unnatural, not even the archbishop of the Church of America, the highest religious authority in the country after the Pope. Of all the bishops, Cooper dislikes the archbishop the most, so of course it's his support Cooper needs to change the royal parentage law that's keeping Blaine from the throne for the time being.

"I will take it under advisement," Cooper tells the archbishop. "But Your Eminence, this is not what I wanted to discuss with you today. I have asked the government to change the royal parentage law and Prime Minister Grey insisted I got you on board before he supports the bill in parliament."

"Out of the question, Your Majesty. The Church will never support such a change, because for a child to be considered a legitimate heir, mother and father need to be of royal blood."

"But technically, a commoner who marries into the royal family doesn't have royal blood and still I have been the Crown Prince and am your King now."

"Your mother was anointed with holy oil when your father became King. God has accepter her as Queen and therefore she's seen as royal in the eyes of God and the law," the archbishop says simply. "But this is not news to Your Majesty."

"And you are aware that my family is running out of suitable options. What if my future wife and I cannot have children. Then I would have to abdicate for my brother who cannot have a family. Princess Sophia is not healthy enough for the Crown and she's got no family either. My father's cousin Duke Carl has a reputation as an adulterer and Earl Robert is married to a divorcee. And their sons and daughters, some of them have never even seen the Palace from the inside. They haven't grown up under royal rule and I'm pretty sure none of them have any interest in giving up their lives for the Crown. Like it or not, at the moment it's up to me to keep the line of Virginia alive, but if you aren't ready to discuss reproductive medicine with me, maybe you should allow me to remarry if my wife can't provide me with an heir."

Predictably, the archbishop looks even more scandalized by this proposition.

"So what Your Majesty is saying is that the Church should accept reproductive medicine as a means of guaranteeing that your family's line will go on. Forgive me, but I don't know enough about the subject."

Well, then Cooper will have to enlighten him.

"What I'm proposing is to change the law so that only one biological parent will have to be of royal blood. So, in case my wife can't have children, we could work around it with an egg donor and a surrogate and if I were the problem, we could use a sperm donor because my wife would either be royal by birth or through marriage and you said yourself that a commoner bound through marriage to a royal is viewed as royal in the eyes of church and law."

"But the couple would still have to be married and unable to conceive naturally? This would not allow a Queen or King unwilling to marry to start a family this way to keep their power."

"They would have to follow the obey the same laws as every other couple in the country, yes."

The archbishop sighs heavily. "I will discuss it with my fellow bishops." After a beat. "My work was much easier in the past century. Now there's some newfangled invention every day. I miss the 20th century."

Cooper gives him a sympathetic smile and is nice enough not to point out that the things they are talking about already existed in the 20th century.

* * *

Tonight, after the show, Kurt does leave immediately, still dressed in his costume underneath his winter coat when he jumps into a waiting cab. Just to be safe he asks the driver to drop him off a block away from his home and only when he's pretty sure that the paparazzi haven't followed him does he enter his building and head up to his and Dani's apartment.

By now, he's got nearly twenty text messages from Rachel alone asking for details about his night at the Palace and Dani's just as curious.

"I didn't really see much of the Palace since I went straight up to Blaine's bedroom and then they took me out through the service entrance again the next morning," Kurt admits with flaming cheeks because he knows what that sounds like - like he only went to the Palace for sex with he Prince and left again first thing in the morning.

In his room he carefully takes off his costume and wipes away his stage makeup before pulling on his robe and heading for the shower. His peace and quiet lasts all of two or three minutes before someone bangs on his front door and Kurt hears Dani's squeak of 'who are you' through the bathroom door.

"Get your butt out here now!" Sue demands for the second time today and Kurt quickly washes the shampoo out of his hair, wraps a towel around his head turban style and a second towel around his waist underneath his bathrobe.

"Sue," he greets her with a sigh. "What did I do now?"

In response, Sue Sylvester shows him her iPad. On the opened page is a picture of Kurt taken in his dressing room. He's shirtless, just stepping into his costume, and on display for everyone to see are the two hickeys the Prince left on his collarbone and above his left hip last night.

 **Prince Blaine's A Sucker For His Boyfriend** is the title of the picture posted on a private blog and already shared half a million times.

"Who could have taken this? Did you see anyone?" Sue asks her arms crossed over her chest as she stares him down.

Kurt shrugs as he tries to remember earlier tonight when he was getting dressed.

"I share a dressing room with six other guys who were all getting dressed or putting on make up, tweeting or playing games on their phones. I had my phone out too but my hand's cut off in the picture so you can't see. I was texting with Blaine so I wasn't really paying attention to anything else around me," he admits.

Sue doesn't look impressed so her next words surprise him. "I've already put out a statement on your behalf in which you are appropriately outraged by the invasion of your privacy and that that's all you have to say on the matter. Under no circumstances will you confirm or deny that those," she wrinkles her nose, "marks were made by Prince Shortpants, are we clear?"

"Crystal." As if he'd want to discuss his sex life in public. He didn't want to when first Santana invaded his and Blaine's privacy and videotaped them without their knowledge or consent and he doesn't want to now. Though he'd very much like to know which of his fellow cast mates took and published the picture. I hope it wasn't Adam, he thinks because he owes his cast mate and friend this role.

"If you want your own dressing room from now on, let me know and I'll make the call tomorrow," Sue continues but Kurt shakes his head.

"Some of them already think I think I'm better than them. I don't want to give them another reason to think that. I'll just be more careful in the future or get dressed at home."

Just then his phone rings and the display shows the name of the director.

"I'm very sorry about the incident at the theater tonight," Sally tells him. "I can assure you though that it won't happen again. Peter knew that the blog belongs to Jarred and he's been fired effective immediately."

"Oh," Kurt says surprised though Rachel would probably say that of course it was the understudy. She always goes on and on about the understudy only being out to get the actor they're understudying and she doesn't see the irony in it when at the moment she's the understudy's understudy.

"I'll try not to get sick then."

"Don't worry about that. I've already reached out to the girl who understudied the role in London and luckily she's now free to come to New York for a few months. Just try not to break anything in the next few days while we try to catch her up."

"I'll be careful," Kurt promises before ending the call with Sally.

"It was my understudy who took the picture," he tells Sue "and the theater's already fired him. So you can go now. It's not that I don't appreciate you telling me and releasing that statement but next time, can't you just call? Not that there will be a next time," he adds quickly, when Sue raises an unimpressed eyebrow.

Thankfully, she just leaves then without another word and Kurt sinks down onto the couch next to Dani who's been watching his and Sue's interaction like a ping pong match.

Deciding to fuck it and just own it he turns to his roommate and says, "so to answer your question - I had a fantastic night at the Palace."

In response, Dani starts giggling almost hysterically and Kurt soon joins her because how is this his life now? For years his bullies had told him that he'd never find a guy because he was ugly, had toothpick arms and a flabby stomach and now people took pictures of him shirtless to prove he was fooling around with a hot prince. If this is a dream, it's the strangest dream he's ever had, that's for sure.

* * *

Cooper's next stop is the leader of the liberal party who's been trying to get a law signed that would allow married homosexual couples not only to adopt but also access to reproductive medicine.

"I'm obviously for it, but I can only vote yay if parliament agrees to keep my vote confidential until I'm ready to reveal it and if in turn, your party supports a law that would allow the royal family access to the same medicine without keeping the resulting children from royal titles."

He does not tell her why the Crown is suddenly ready to support her bill. No one can know that he's doing this all for Blaine, that he's ensuring that his brother can be King and carry on the line through surrogacy later in life. Because if surrogacy for civilly married gay couples is legal, then it would be legal for a civilly married gay King too no matter what the Church says. Cooper's not stupid, there's no way the Church would ever bless Blaine's marriage and give his husband a title, let alone King Consort. But at least Kurt, Cooper's pretty sure, wouldn't be bothered by this.

"If His Majesty supports my bill, He will have my party's support for His own proposed law," Marena King tells him, before she curtsies and leaves his office.

Time to meet with the Prime Minister again, Cooper thinks before he sends a text to Sarah.

 _Not long now xoxo-C_

* * *

"Are you sure you still want to go?" Blaine asks while they are getting ready at Richmond House two months later.

Going to class for Blaine means running the gauntlet every time he's on campus, trying to dodge paparazzi and still give them a friendly smile when they do catch him. His family will probably have to donate a large sum to the school to make up for the problems Blaine's attendance has been causing. Since the start of the term, every singly one of the students he shares classes with has been approached by the media, and Blaine counts himself lucky that no one's sold him out for a quick buck yet. Or maybe someone had, but the story was just too boring. After all, who wants to read - 'Crown Prince goes to class, listens to lecture, does homework and writes midterm papers.'

Kurt's not faring much better but he's doing stage door again; from behind a barrier and flanked by bodyguards the theater has hired since Kurt's presence has just bought the show a two months extension that has already sold out as well. However, he never comes out before his cast mates had a chance to meet fans of the show and sign programs. It's bad enough when they take their bow and people make it abundantly clear who they came to the show for, but at least at stage door, he wants the others to shine first before he braves the crowd as well. If it were just theatergoers it would be fine and he could maybe handle it without security, but interest in him still hasn't gone down and so he also has to deal with a group of paparazzi every night.

"You got me _Hamilton_ tickets. There's little in the world I would miss the show for," Kurt reminds the Prince before batting his hands away and fixing the Blaine's bowtie.

They're not dressed in suits since most people don't really dress up for Broadway anymore, but they both look very stylish - Kurt in a silvery dinner jacket with black skinny tie over dark grey slacks and polished black oxfords and the Prince in a burgundy dinner jacket with black bowtie over black slacks and black boat shoes with white accents - because tonight will be there first public appearance together. There's been plenty about the two of them in the news, but until now no pictures of the two of them together outside screen shots from the video exist. So it's to be expected that once word gets out that they're at the show together the paparazzi will come out in droves.

The Palace has called ahead and warned the theater that the Crown Prince and boyfriend will be attending the show so it could make provisions for them like extra security and a special screening of everyone sitting in Blaine's vicinity. Mike got the front row seat on the balcony next to the Prince after he admitted that he trained to be a dancer until a knee injury destroyed that dream, while Sam and Puck have the seats right behind Blaine while Kurt gets Matt on his side.

When they're ready to leave Sam reports that the paparazzi have left probably to check out reports that the Prince was see entering Kurt's theater - a brilliant move on Puck's part, Kurt has to admit - and they quickly climb into a waiting car driven by Blaine's usual driver Liam.

Liam drops them off at stage door where they are greeted by one of the producers and given a quick tour backstage since the plan's to get them to their seats at the last possible moment.

"If Your Highness isn't in a hurry after the show, the cast would love to meet with the two of you."

"We'd love to," Kurt says quickly before a squeal makes him look behind the producer.

"Rachel," Kurt exclaims and then she's throwing herself at him already dressed in her 18th century costume. "I'm sorry I won't get to see you as Eliza tonight," he winks and Rachel squeezes him harder.

"You should have told me you're coming," she pouts. "We've barely see each other since you went public with Prince Blaine."

"Sorry, Rach," he apologizes feeling a bit guilty for neglecting her, but she's still hanging out a lot with Santana and Kurt's not ready to be friends with his former roommate again. "I wasn't allowed to say since this is a big security issue for the Palace. Apparently, crowds and the Crown Prince make the Palace nervous. But we'll catch up soon, I promise," he adds before they are whisked away and led up the stairs to their seats since the final bell just rung.

And then the audience goes crazy. They are recognized as soon as they enter and a young woman yells loudly, "OMG, it's the Prince and Kurt."

With Puck, Sam, Matt and Mike forming a protective circle around them, they shuffle to their seats while more and more people stand up to gawk at them and take pictures. And then there's the cheering and clapping and people yelling out their support. Blaine smiles at them all regally and Kurt allows himself a small wave since these people are cheering for him as well. It's an other worldly experience that Kurt suddenly finds himself thrust into, making his own stage door experiences appear like child's play.

The crowd doesn't quiet down until the producer himself steps on stage and tells the audience that the show won't start until everyone's taken their seat and has put their phones away and to please do that now since Prince Blaine came to the theater to see _Hamilton_.

It takes another fifteen minutes until the audience is quiet but when the curtain goes up Kurt smiles when he catches sight of Rachel on stage because knowing that his friend's in the show makes it even better.

The show is fantastic as is meeting the cast and nothing can dampen Kurt's spirits that night, not even the police escort it takes to get them home to Richmond House safely, where Kurt's been spending his nights when the paparazzi were especially ruthless at the theater and he was afraid they would follow him home.

* * *

"All in favor of signing bill 1096 SSC into law please say 'yay'," Marena King, the author of the bill, asks and once King Cooper's voted yay, more and more members of parliament follow.

It's a closed session and everyone in the room has already signed a confidentiality agreement because this can't come out until the time's right.

"The motion passes 119 to 86," Marena King announces with a big smile on her face. She's told Cooper in confidence that she has a partner who she would have loved to marry and have children with before they got too old, but knowing she's giving the younger generation those opportunities fills her with so much pride.

"Moving on," the speaker says. "His Majesty the King, has also prepared a motion. His Majesty has the floor."

Cooper's dressed in a smartly tailored suit that hugs his body in all the right places, his dark hair is styled expertly and his teeth shine when he gives the room his most dazzling smile.

"Members of parliament, the Crown wishes to amend Royal Law pertaining to parentage and the issuing of titles onto heirs to the throne. The Crown does so with support from the Church of America and is now asking for your support as well. The proposed amendment will give members of the royal family access to reproductive medicine and children born from such procedures will still be eligible for royal titles. This is to ensure that my family's line, the line of Virginia which has been leading this kingdom since the 18th century, can flourish further even when a King and Queen cannot conceive naturally. The leading Kings and Queens would have to adhere to common law and unmarried members of the royal family would no be granted access to the procedures as is common law already. So, in short, all in favor of amending Royal Law 32 to include reproductive medicine regulated under common law please say 'yay'."

Cooper fixes his eyes on the Prime Minster who's promised his support when Cooper came to him and told him he somehow got the Church on board. Prime Minister Grey looks like he's just bitten into a particularly bitter lemon but once he votes yay, the members of his party follow and in the end, the vote is unanimous.

"Thank you," Cooper says graciously trying not to jump up and down like crazy because, holy shit, he's done it. "If there's nothing else on the agenda for today, please excuse me. I have to open a children's hospital in Nevada."

And then he flees out into his waiting car and lets out a breath he seems to have been holding for years. There's a letter for Blaine waiting in his brother's old bedroom filled with apologies and the belief that Blaine will be much better suited for the job, pleads for Blaine not to hate him and the confession that he wants to move out west with his new family to try his hand on acting. The letter's supposed to tide Blaine over while Cooper's off on honeymoon in the Bahamas and hopefully by the time he's back, Blaine will have accepted his new responsibilities and is willing to speak to him again.

Sarah and the kids are waiting for him at the private airbase, and when he sees them he can't wait any longer and pulls them all into a tight hug. He and Sarah kiss while the kids fight over who gets to play co-pilot for 'Coop'.

"Ready Ms. Anderson?" he asks her after buckling the kids into their seats.

Just his luck that he would be marrying an Anderson when his mom was one too. Still, not enough of a detergent to keep him from taking her name since his only other option would be going by Cooper Virginia and that sounds just stupid. Well, it will probably be Duke Cooper of Virginia since Kings and Queens who have abdicated in the past have usually been styled Duke or Duchess. But if he had a choice he'd rather be Duke Cooper Anderson of Virginia.

"As I'll ever be."

* * *

Kurt runs into Blaine's living room after a loud crash that hasn't just him scrambling to get to the Prince but his guards as well. Blaine's standing in the middle of the room in a sea of glass shards from the vase he dropped, staring white faced at the TV. And then the room starts spinning for Kurt as well, because there on CNN, his and Blaine's worst nightmare is being announced.

 _Breaking News: King Cooper marries secret girlfriend in Las Vegas and petitions court for step-child adoption. King Cooper also announced his abdication from the throne effective immediately after signing into law a bill that will make the LGBT community very happy. In his last official action, King Cooper helped pass a law that will allow married same sex couples access to reproductive medicine and adoption beyond step-child adoption. We are now awaiting a statement from the Palace where King Blaine should be expected to arrive within the next few hours to take over from his brother._

And then the Prince doesn't just break the vase, he shatters Kurt's heart as well.

"I'm so sorry Kurt, but if I have to be King, we can't be together anymore."

* * *

Sorry


	11. Chapter 11

**AN:** Since I don't know what kind of warnings an M rated story needs, I'll warn for violence in this chapter just to be safe. Please message me if you need a summery first.

Also, I'll reply to comments tomorrow because I don't want to accidentally spoil anything in my replies since my mind's in chapter 14 right now. But know that I appreciate every review and favorite very much. Always makes me smile when I get a new email 3

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

"I'm so sorry Kurt, but if I have to be King, we can't be together anymore."

There are tears in Blaine's eyes and it's the only thing that keeps Kurt from throwing something at him or make a scene by yelling out his feelings. Instead, he scoops his broken heart up from the floor, forces it back into his chest and walks first out of Blains's living room and then out of his house and out of his life. All around him, camera flashes go off, but Kurt barely notices them, just like he doesn't notice that he's shaking, out in the cold late February air without a coat on.

Unsurprisingly, it's not Blaine who comes after him, but Sam, who looks like he just had to watch someone kick a puppy _and_ torture a kitten when he hands Kurt his coat and messenger bag and begs him to come back, because surely Blaine didn't mean it, he's just in shock.

"He keeps muttering that he was never supposed to be King and that his father was so sure he never would be that he let his mother name him. Apparently, Blaine's not the name for a King because it's not regal enough."

Kurt stops so abruptly, Sam runs right into him.

"If you think the King will change his mind, then you don't know him very well," he spits. "The Crown will always come first for him and no one can compete with that. As for the other thing, I don't give a fuck, Sam. I don't give a fuck if they'll call him King Quasimodo or that he's freaking out. If he's going through this alone right now then he's got no one to blame but himself. So go back and bow to your King, Sam, because I sure as hell won't. If he comes to his senses he knows where to find me, and if he doesn't tell him he's lucky Sue made me sign that NDA."

It's an empty threat because he'd never go to the press with everything he knows about the Prin-, the King, because he's not vindictive. He's heartbroken, but not vindictive, because Blaine honestly believes he has no other choice but to end things with Kurt and live a heterosexual life from now on.

And the Sam's arms around him, and Kurt's sobbing into his shoulder and cursing himself for doing so, because he's known this might happen since King Richard's death and thought he would be prepared for it, but how can you prepare for your heart getting ripped out of your chest and your boyfriend trampling on it? He doesn't fight Sam when he hails a cab and makes Kurt get into it before joining him even though he's sure that Sam's not supposed to be here and risks getting fired for abandoning Blaine. Who as new King probably requires more security not less. Not that Kurt should care about that. Because you know what they say about shoulda, coulda, woulda.

Sam gets him home and upstairs into his apartment, pushes him down onto the couch and fetches him a glass of water. It's a testament to how much time Blaine spent at his apartment that Sam feels so at home here.

"Do you want me to call the theater?" Sam asks while Kurt gulps down the water, his throat dry from all the crying he did on the drive over from Richmond House.

"Why?" Kurt croaks and Sam frowns.

"I thought that maybe you're not up to doing the show tonight."

"I'm not," Kurt admits before he straightens his spine, "but I'm not going to miss a show because of him. I'm better than that. No one pushes the Hummels around not even a King."

* * *

Blaine's just come out of another full blown panic attack when Sam returns.

"I should fire you on the spot," he tells Sam who doesn't look sorry at all for just taking off. "But you did the right thing going after him. Did you get him home okay?"

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, but I don't feel comfortable betraying Kurt's confidence."

It stings to be suddenly treated like dirt even by someone ranked so low in Palace hierarchy, by a commoner who's supposed to revere him now that he's King not despise him for ending a relationship.

"I don't have a choice, Sam. My brother may have been nice enough to change the law for regular gay couples but I still have to obey royal law and that states clearly that the only way for me to keep my family's line alive is to have children born to two royal parents. Do you think I want to marry a woman and have a physical relationship with her? Because the thought disgusts me," Blaine yells in Sam's face before he slaps his hand over his mouth and looks at his guard in horror because he's the King, he's not allowed to lose his temper like this; it's unbecoming for someone in his position.

"I think it's best if we take you to the Palace now. Sue will know how to handle this," Puck steps in and Blaine bristles at being told what to do by a subordinate, but he doesn't argue and follows his guards to the waiting car while the mob of reporters outside goes crazy, yelling questions at him that Blaine can't or doesn't want to answer.

They take the side entrance since the main gates are already blocked by hundreds of people hoping to catch a glimpse of King Blaine and Blaine's heart is gripped by an iron fist and squeezed tightly when he sees the signs that have King Blaine & King Kurt written inside a heart, because he know this can't and will never happen.

Sue and Emma are waiting for him when he arrives, but when they try to lead him to Cooper's office, Blaine shakes his head and tells them he needs a fews minutes alone before he's ready to talk.

On the way up to his room, he pulls out his phone and dials Charlotte's number.

"I didn't expect to hear from you again, Blaine," Charlotte says in lieu of a greeting, and Blaine's oddly glad that she isn't calling him Your Majesty.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but after how we left things I wasn't sure you wanted to hear from me again."

There's a sigh on the other end of the line.

"Why are you calling? I'm sure you have more important things to deal with right now. I mean, I saw the news Blaine, holy shit. You're King?"

"If you still want to be Queen you can have it," Blaine blurts out because Charlotte might just be ambitious enough to take him up on the offer even after how he treated her in the past. And at least they get along, might even have become best friends if he could have been honest with her from the start.

"I'm not a virgin anymore," Charlotte says bluntly. "You can't believe how much fun I've have since you're little video."

"Anything Sue would object to?" Blaine asks because that would be just be his luck if the only woman he can see as his future wife disqualified herself because she slept with the wrong people after she stayed a virgin for years because of him.

"Unlike some people, I know how to be discreet," Charlotte takes a dig at him, but he deserves everything she throws at him and doesn't argue.

"You didn't answer my question. Do you still want to be Queen? I'm sure we could arrange something for you after we've had kids so you still get to have your fun if you're as discreet as you say you are."

The less often he has to sleep with her the better.

"And what are you going to tell he public? You think your adoring fans will believe you've suddenly seen the light and are interested in girls now."

He's thought about it on the drive over from his home. Or what used to be his home.

"I'll say I'm bisexual and that if I could chose I would stay with Kurt, but the Kingdom needs a King and a Queen and you've been gracious enough to take me back. I can have Emma write a press release right away and Sue will make sure people will admire us for our dedication to the throne instead of criticizing us for our arrangement."

"Yeah, no. You will not say publicly that you prefer _him_ over me. No. You broke up with him because you realized that I'm the better choice for a King and you were lucky that I still had feelings for you."

"Do you? Still have feelings for me?" Blaine asks as he sinks down onto his bed and traces his finger over his name on a letter left for him in his room. It's not hard to guess who it's from.

"Jesus, Blaine. We were together five years and officially engaged for two months. I thought we would be married by now, so what do you think? That I was your girlfriend just so I could marry into your family? If I really were as power hungry as you seem to think I am, I would have broken up with you years ago and gone after Cooper. How was I supposed to know that you would be King one day. If anyone's actually bet on it, they must have won a lot of money today."

There isn't much he can say after this because he honestly believed that Charlotte saw him as nothing more than a means to an end and would have challenged anyone who said they're in love. Because it never was love, at least not for him.

"I'm really sorry, Charlotte," he tells her again. "I should have ended it with you the moment my dad sent me off to South Africa. I was selfish because I knew he'd leave me alone as long as you were my girlfriend."

It's Charlotte's turn to be quiet for a moment. Then her voice takes on a demanding tone.

"If I agree to this, you will do the following: You will take me out on romantic dates and you will be convincing as my fiancé. You will be an attentive lover until I have fulfilled my duty and have given you two children. After that I will be free to see whoever I want and you may do the same, but not _him_. You will ensure that our children will be styled 'of Virginia _and_ Carolina' to show the merging of our family lines and I want to officially be one of your senior advisors. I have a Masters degree in political science and I intend to use it. Also, you won't see _him_ again. You won't see plays he's in and you won't go anywhere you might run into him. Those are my conditions - take them or leave it."

Blaine feels sick to his stomach as he considers it, but what else is there to do?

"Watch out for the announcement, then you'll have your answer," he tells Charlotte because maybe he shouldn't make any life changing decisions right now. Not before he's read what Cooper has to say for himself. Maybe there's a logical explanation for all this, because Cooper's not cruel, he wouldn't do this to Blaine if he didn't have a plan, right? And he ensured that same sex married couples had the same rights regarding children as heterosexual couples, so he had to care about Blaine's wellbeing.

"You have until the end of next week. If I haven't heard anything till then I assume you think you could find a better bride than me. But let me tell me, you're stupid if you think you can find anyone better suited than me."

I already have and I just broke his heart, Blaine thinks, tears welling up in his eyes again.

"I'll let you know," he croaks before he quickly ends the call, because he doesn't want her to hear him cry.

He picks up Cooper's letter with shaking hands and pulls it out of the envelop.

 _Dear Blaine._

 _I wanted to start with Dear Squirt, but you are King now and not even I feel right about calling the King Squirt. Right now, you are probably incredibly angry with me, but hear me out. I was never the right choice for King. I want to do what Kurt does only out in Hollywood because theater is dead, not read boring bills and vote on things I don't care about and don't know enough about. I'm not you. You went back to college even though it wasn't required of you. You know all those things about world politics even if it seemed unlikely that you would ever get to use the knowledge. You are compassionate and you care about the people in this Kingdom whereas I care mostly about myself. And Sarah, and Lucy, and Billy. I care about them so much, sometimes I can't believe it myself. They are my family now just like you are my family._

 _I didn't do this to hurt you, Blaine, I did it because you are the right choice for this Kingdom and eventually the Church will accept you and Kurt too just like I have and just like so many others have since you met him. Not everyone will be happy about a King with a male partner, but I'm sure you will make such a great King, that people will stop caring about your sexuality eventually. So don't hate me for springing this on you and not discussing it with you first. I knew you would try to talk me out of it, and I was tired of being King and tired of not being with the woman I love. You'll meet her when I'm back from my honeymoon and then we can talk about all of this face to face. Hopefully by then, you will have forgiven your big brother a little bit and will open your arms to my new family._

 _With love,_

 _Cooper_

Blaine laughs hollowly when he's finished with the letter because how can Cooper go on and on about Blaine and Kurt leading together when he knows they'll have to break up eventually when Blaine has to settle down to start a family? How can his brother think it's better for them to stay together for now and break up in what five years when Blaine's thirty and expected to start a family? If it already hurts this much now, he doesn't even want to imagine how much worse it would be to stay in a relationship with an expiration date. Love has always come second to the Crown and so it would be a relationship with an expiration date, even though Cooper's probably right and the Church won't force him to abdicate but only because there isn't anyone suitable next in line they could exchange him for. But eventually he would have to give Kurt up for the Crown so the line of Virginia could live on or the bishops would groom one of his distant relatives for the throne and Blaine was truthful when he told Kurt he thought he could do a lot of good as King.

Puck and Sam trail him as he makes a pit stop on the balcony and sends out a silent prayer because his mother is in Europe again, London this time, so he doesn't have to deal with her as well. With any luck she will go off on Cooper and leave Blaine alone for the time being. After stabbing out his cigarette he doesn't bother with chewing gum before he walks downstairs to Sue's office. They made him King so he should be allowed to do whatever he wants now.

"I have spoke to Lady Charlotte about the possibility of renewing our engagement," he informs Sue and Emma and takes a seat behind Sue's desk, making her sit opposite him next to Emma. "She has some demands but is on board in general. So I need you to draft a statement saying that I have ended my relationship with Kurt because as King I have to think about what's best for the Kingdom and that I will start looking for a wife soon. Something about how privately I have always identified as bisexual but have kept it a secret because I know how bisexuals are treated even within the LGBT community. You can release this now and I'll let you know when to announce my engagement to Lady Charlotte."

Blaine's met with stunned silence until Sue crossed her arms over her chest and stares him down until he's squirming in his seat. Then she lays down the law.

"No. I will do neither. You are not thinking clearly and this screams PR nightmare and I'm not sure even I could spin this into something positive."

"Maybe we could say you and Kurt are taking a time out to deal with your new position and to figure out what your new title means for your relationship," Emma pipes up. "You don't want to do anything drastic that you can't take back before you have slept on it."

Somehow he knows he can't force either of them to do what he wants right now. He could fire them of course, but Blaine's not stupid. Sue Sylvester and Emma Pillsbury are working at the Palace for a reason - they are the best of the best in their fields.

"Fine, do that. Just get it out there that Kurt and I are over so I stop thinking what if. What if I'm missing something, what if I should try to make it work with Kurt. Because if it's officially over, it's over and I can start thinking about what's best for the Kingdom."

"It's not what you are doing right now," Sue informs him but Blaine just walks out of her office trying to ignore the voice in his head telling him that Sue's right.

* * *

He gets a text from Blaine the next day that says 'sorry' and 'it had to be done'. Attached is a link to an article in which the Palace confirms that King Blaine and Mr. Hummel are spending some time apart to reevaluate if a relationship is at all possible for them now that King Blaine has followed his brother onto the throne. 'The King is considering what is best for America and what is best for America may as well not be what's best for his personal relationship. Mr. Hummel understands that and is giving King Blaine the space to figure out how to move forward as King."

"I did what now?" Kurt grumbles and he throws his phone down onto the couch when there's a knock on the door.

Rachel's outside with a shopping bag filled with ice cream, chocolate and a cheesecake.

"I can't eat that - do you know how tight my costume is?" Kurt says in lieu of a greeting but steps aside to let her in. Dani's at work and he could do with some company before he calls Blaine and yells at him.

"You're going on tonight?" Rachel asks surprised.

"I went on last night, and I will today. They're not going to see me cry or write about how I'm hiding at home because the King dumped me. No, if they're going to write about me, then they're going to write how I persevered, how I wouldn't let anything put me down and how you couldn't tell if I was hurting or not," Kurt says with as much conviction as he can, because if he says it enough times, then he might start believing it too.

"Oh Kurt," Rachel lets go of the bag and throws her arms around him. "I'm so sorry. I actually believed what the news said, because otherwise I would have brought Tequila. I can't believe him. After everything you've done for him."

Kurt just shrugs because he doesn't have the energy right now to bash Blaine or defend him.

"I always knew he'd choose the Crown over me. I had just hoped he would never have to choose. But Cooper forced his hand, for whatever fucked up reason. Because I don't care if he was doing it for love - how about how Blaine and I feel for each other? We love each other too, but Cooper, he thought his relationship was more important. And to let us find out from the news instead of telling us face to face, makes him a coward too."

He ends up sharing a tube of ice cream after all when he's done ranting and cursing the royal family.

The rest of the day is more of the same. Paparazzi waiting for him at the theater screaming questions about King Blaine at him that Kurt's not allowed to answer anyway, pitying looks and well-meaning I'm sorrys from cast and crew and a few I told you sos from cast mates he doesn't get along with. Kurt ignores them all, puts on his costume, does his makeup and becomes his role. After the show, he signs autographs on autopilot, fake smiles for pictures and ignores questions about his personal life. Then he gets a cab to drop him off at a subway station and takes a J train back home to Bushwick. The train's less full this time of the night, but everyone's staring at him, and quite a few people are openly filming him and taking pictures with their phones. Kurt doesn't smile, but he doesn't cry either. He won't give them the satisfaction. Though he does give a teenage boy a brief smile when he tells Kurt he hopes he and the King will make up because they are his idols. Find new idols he wants to tell the boy, because eventually Blaine will announce his intention to marry a woman - for the good of the country. He hates that phrase so much.

He gets off the stop after the one closest to his apartment just to be safe and texts Dani as he walks out of the station.

 _Hey, I just remembered you saying Christine will be over tonight. So here's my I'm a few blocks away warning - Kurt_

 _Don't worry about it - we went to hers. I thought you probably want to be alone tonight. Hope you're doing okay - Dani_

Before he can reply, his phone is slapped out of his hand and he is being yanked into a deserted alley filled with overflowing dumpsters and what sounds like rats.

"Well, if it isn't King Cocksucker's fuck toy," an unfamiliar voice says close to his ear, the man's breath stale and his speech lightly slurred. "There we was thinking tonight was boring and suddenly there you were. No fancy guards tonight or do you only get them when he fucks you."

Kurt wants to say for guys pretending to hate gays you seem to spend a lot of time thinking about gay sex, but in this situation it's probably better to keep his mouth shut. Because Dani isn't home expecting him any minute now and getting worried when he doesn't show up. No, no one knows where he is, because the theater saw him get into a cab and no one else on the train got off at this stop. And there's a least three of them. The man with the disgusting breath has a tight grip on Kurt's arms behind his back and though he should expect the first punch, he doesn't and screams when a fist connects with his nose. There's no way it isn't broken, with blood running into his mouth while Kurt desperately fights to get out of the man's hold before his companions can hit him again. But he's not strong enough. All he's trained in is stage fighting and that doesn't help if your attacker isn't following the same choreography.

The next punch to his stomach would have sent him to the ground were it not for the hands holding him up and Kurt screams again, hoping someone might hear and come to rescue him.

After, he loses track of time. All he knows is that soon there isn't a single spot on his body that hasn't been hit and he can barely see out of his eyes since both are nearly swollen shut by now. If he thought he knew what pain is because of the bullying in high school, he is sorely mistaken because the pain is blinding and Kurt loses consciousness more than once, only to come back to being kicked as he's lying on the ground, his broken arms useless and his cracked ribs making it hard to breathe. He's feeling dizzy and nauseous and his cheeks flush when he realizes that at some point he wet himself.

And then there are sirens approaching and Kurt's never heard a more beautiful sound in his life before, because it makes his attackers flee the alley before everything goes dark around him.

When he comes to again, he is in an ambulance by the sound of it. He can't see at all through his swollen shut eyes and every bone in his body hurts though he's pretty sure he's already been given something for the pain, because it feels different now. Not as blinding as before, but still bad enough that he whimpers in pain.

"Hey, don't move. You're in an ambulance and we're taking you to the hospital. Can you tell us your name? You didn't have your wallet on you when you were found."

Kurt tries to joke 'don't you watch the news' but he can't even get his name out before he blacks out again.

The next time he wakes he's in a hospital bed, a heart monitor steadily beeping next to his bed, a tube down his throat and a catheter making him pee in a bag all the clues he needs to determine his whereabouts.

"John Doe. Early twenties. Admitted last night and had emergency surgery performed on him after one of his lower left ribs injured his spleen and caused internal bleeding. Patient has three more fractured ribs, which we have not fixated since it would require additional surgery. Furthermore, the patient also has two broken arms, wrists and nearly all of his fingers, a concussion, broken nose and a broken ankle in his left leg. A cat scan showed no head trauma and as soon as we can get him back into an x-ray machine, we can start putting his broken bones into casts. No next of kin has been notified as of yet since the patient didn't have ID on him and his fingerprints aren't in the system. Police will question him once we have extubated but until then, treat him like he's allergic to most medication just to be safe. We will extubate as soon as possible to minimize the risk of infection and so we can transfer the patient out of the ICU, but for the moment his chest x-ray suggests that mechanical ventilation is the best treatment for his respiratory issues."

There's some quiet murmuring as the doctor and his med students leave the room, and Kurt wants to call after them to come back but he can't with the tube down his throat. He can't even write down his name because his hands are useless just like his arms. He only tries to move them once, because not even his painkillers are strong enough to make moving broken bones not painful.

A while later he's wheeled out of his room and his broken bones are x - rayed.

"You are lucky," a female voice tells him. "No complicated breaks so if you don't overexert yourself the casts should come off in six to eight weeks. Hopefully we'll find your family soon though, because you're going to need a lot of help," she adds and Kurt grimaces around the tube in his throat because with both of his arms and hands broken, he won't be able to do anything on his own. He'll need help eating and drinking, getting dressed and using the bathroom once that embarrassing catheter comes out. And he won't be able to perform. What's worse, tonight's his night off so the theater won't report him missing and if Dani's staying at her girlfriend's again she won't notice he hasn't home either. People might call, but it probably won't come across as strange if he doesn't answer calls right now. So he's stuck in this hospital where no one knows who he is with his whole body in pain just because he took the subway home to shake off the paparazzi. Recently, this relationship with Blaine has caused him nothing but pain. Shouldn't have gotten involved, the angel on his shoulder sing - songs. Well, easier said then done. It would all be easier if he hadn't fallen in love with Blaine.

He tries not to think about Blaine as he is wheeled back into his room and the same doctor starts wrapping his arms and leg with plaster, keeping up a constant chatter while Kurt wills his eyes to open far enough so he can see what's happening around him. Before he succeeds though, he falls asleep again.

* * *

"What?" Sue barks into the phone after another stressful day of trying to keep King Shortpants in line and making sure he doesn't alienate the most vocal of his subjects in the first week of his reign by dumping Porcelain and publicly taking up with Lady Stick up her Ass again.

"I'm sorry," her assistant Becky stutters. "But a woman called the Palace hotline saying she's Kurt Hummel's roommate and that he might be missing."

"Who's she trying to contact?" Sue massages her temples and wonders why she doesn't just tell Becky to hang up on the roommate because the Palace doesn't care about Kurt Hummel anymore now that King Shortsighted dumped him.

"You. She said she doesn't want to alert his family until she knows that Kurt and the King haven't secretly reconciled and Kurt's just forgotten to tell her that he's with the King."

"Tell her I'll call her back and not to talk to anyone else until I do. I need to have words with the King first."

Giving up on killing her headache with natural means, she pops two Aspirin into her mouth before she strides down the hallway to the King's office. His secretary tries to stop her, but he's new and doesn't seem to know yet that Sue doesn't need an audience to talk to the King.

"Where's Porcelain? If you changed your mind about him, I need to know."

The King looks up at her, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't seen Kurt since Cooper's announcement. Maybe he's in Ohio with his Dad."

"I doubt it," Sue tells him, "since his roommate went as far as calling the Palace to report him missing."

The King in front of her pales and his hands start to shake.

"Kurt's missing? We have to call the police." King Shortpants orders her but Sue shakes her head.

"Out of the question. We just released a statement that the two of you are taking a break. You cannot report him missing. It will look like he ran off without telling you where he was going and people will know that you didn't decide together to take a break. I'll call the roommate and tell her he's not with you and then she can report it."

Sue leaves a shaking and white as a sheet King behind and wonders how much more work Porcelain and King Can't Make Up His Mind will cause her until they either get their shit together or part ways for good. She would have thrown in the towel long ago, but unfortunately she does have a soft spot for King Shortpants.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** A little history about the Kingdom of America in this one.

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Blaine learns from the news that Kurt went missing after his last show Sunday night. They found the cab driver who picked him up and dropped him off at a Subway station in Lower Manhattan. There's CCTV footage of him getting on a train to Brooklyn but none of him getting off because the footage from the trains is only stored twenty-four hours and the cameras in the Bushwick stations were down after a blackout earlier in the 's video footage from people who were on the train with Kurt, but no one seems to remember if he got off at his usual stop or not. In the videos, Kurt looks like he isn't bothered by any of it, but Blaine knows him and those smiles - everyone would be able to tell they are fake if Kurt wasn't such a good actor.

And there's nothing he can do, but sit in his office and watch the news, because officially he can't get involved. Not just because Sue told him so, he's her boss so technically he doesn't have to listen to her, but also because his deal with Charlotte would be off immediately if he started looking for Kurt too. They talked on the phone briefly this morning and Blaine had explained that he couldn't announce their engagement until Kurt was found hopefully unharmed because it would make him look like a massive douchebag if he got engaged while his ex-boyfriend is missing. And Charlotte begrudgingly agreed and extended her ultimatum to the end of the month.

"But that's it," she said. "I hear that you are in contact with him or you don't announce our engagement in the next three weeks, I'm out."

So he doesn't get involved but scours the internet for news on Kurt instead of reading through the stack of bills he's required to vote on or interviewing advisors and chiefs of staff. For now he's content to let Sue handle everything from informing Columbia that he won't continue his study for obvious reasons, arranging his move from Richmond House to the Palace and getting Cooper's things out of the King's quarters so Blaine can move in. He tells his secretary to arrange for Cooper's belongings to be sent to Richmond House for the time being since he doesn't know what his brother's plans are upon his return and he can't ask him either because his phone's off. All he knows is that he's brother's in the Bahamas with his new wife and step-kids because you can't abdicate from the throne of America and expect not to get recognized on a Caribbean island.

With a sigh he turns off his computer and tries to focus on the pile of papers on his desk because he has a responsibility to his people now and they have to come first no matter how much it pains him.

* * *

It takes four days until Kurt's identified because the doctors thought it best not to extubate yet and with both arms in casts from his wrists to above his elbow and his broken fingers immobilized as well there is no way he can write down his name either.

But on the fourth morning, the swelling around his eyes and broken nose goes down and when a nurse comes in to check up on him, her loud gasp makes him blink his eyes open and close again immediately, because he actually can open them and the harsh hospital light is blinding.

"Oh my God, you're Kurt Hummel. Your face has been all over the news."

Kurt nods slowly, his eyes still closed and then nurse notices his discomfort and dims the light so Kurt can slowly open his eyes again and take in his surroundings.

His hospital room is completely bare save for the medical equipment around his bed but it makes sense because if no one knows he's here then he can't have had any visitors yet and from what he's heard the doctor say he's in intensive care and maybe isn't even allowed flowers in his room.

"Is there anyone you'd like me to call? Your family? Or your ICE? It says here your emergency contacts are a Rachel Berry and a Santana Lopez."

Kurt carefully shakes his head and makes a note to change that once he's better.

"No, don't call your ICE?" the nurse asks and Kurt nods again careful not to disrupt the tube down his throat.

"Do you know your mom or your dad's number? We don't have it on file but how about I go through the numbers and you nod when I get to a right one?"

Kurt grimaces as he nods again because every little movement is hurting him even though he's sure the hospital has him on strong pain killers.

"Or better blink once for yes and twice for no." Kurt blinks once.

The nurse leaves him alone for a few minutes to let the police know that he's been found - apparently he's been reported missing after all - and to get her phone so she can call his family. When she comes back she's smiling at Kurt.

"The police gave me your father's contact information and he's trying to get here as quickly as possible." she informs him.

He doesn't want his dad to see him like this, a bruised and broken mess, but he also doesn't want to be here without his dad because being near his dad always makes him feel safe.

He doesn't realize he's crying until the nurse gently dries his bruised cheeks and then sits with him until he's cried himself out and falls asleep again thanks to the meds being administered constantly through his IV.

* * *

Blaine gets woken up by a loud knock on his door. He's asleep in his old bedroom because he doesn't feel comfortable sleeping in the King's bedroom yet because every time he walks into it he's reminded that less than a year ago this used to be his parent's bedroom. And speaking of parents - the press has been having a field day because his mother hasn't come back from Europe yet. Apparently, her reluctance to return means she disapproves of her youngest son ascending the throne and she wants to postpone facing him for as long as possible. Another thing for Sue to handle he decided.

"What?" he yells in the direction of the door because his alarm isn't supposed to go off for another thirty minutes.

"They've found Kurt," Sam's voice is muffled as he speaks through the closed doors and Blaine's out of bed in a flash and strides to his bedroom door.

"Where is he? Is he okay?" His voice is shaky and there are soft tremors in his hands as well.

Sam's looking a little pale as well when he walks past Blaine and turns on the TV in Blaine's sitting room. The news anchor is talking about how the John Doe that was attacked in Brooklyn a few days ago turned out to be none other than Kurt Hummel and her co-anchor speculates that maybe the police will do more to catch the attackers now that it turns out that the victim isn't a nobody.

"Because it would be typical, wouldn't it? A gay bashing of a nobody - the police briefly investigates and then closes the case for lack of evidence. I mean, they still haven't caught the guys who murdered that kid in Northern Manhattan last spring and put his boyfriend in a wheelchair. But issue some anonymous threats against the Palace and you can be sure the Police will have you arrested in a few hours."

"So you think they are gonna catch the guys who did this to the King's ex? Because come on - everyone knows that taking a break is code for we broke up but we're not ready to tell the kids."

"Are we the kids in this scenario?" the co-anchor asks with a lopsided grin and they continue their banter while Blaine stares at the TV in shock.

He's heard about the attack and remembers looking up the area where it happened and feeling relieved when he saw that it wasn't near Kurt's subway stop. There weren't too many details in the report, only that an unidentified male in his early twenties had been jumped by three male attackers who had run off when the ambulance, who'd been called by a witness who'd happened upon the attack, arrived. The John Doe had been admitted to Brooklyn Hospital with severe injuries but was out of the woods according to doctors after emergency surgery was performed.

And like everyone else Blaine hadn't connected the dots either because Kurt got off the train at a different stop when he took the subway and for all he knew he could have skipped town and was currently in hiding outside of the city.

"Is he conscious?" he asks Sam because the news isn't saying anything about how Kurt's doing or if he's family's with him. "And can you find out if Burt and Carole are already on their way and if not get them on the next flight out here."

"I'll find out," Sam says and then Blaine's alone with his thoughts.

His first instinct is to get dressed and rush to the hospital to see for himself that Kurt's alive and that his injuries aren't life threatening, but he knows that he can't. There's no way he could get to the hospital undetected now that Kurt's been identified and once Charlotte found out, their deal would be off. And the problem is, Charlotte's right. He won't find another woman as agreeable and qualified as her. Charlotte already knows all his secrets and he wouldn't have to hide his real feelings if they got married. If he were forced to marry someone else though, he'd have to live a lie for the rest of his life and he can't do that again, not to himself and not to his future wife. But he can't imagine not going to see Kurt to check for himself that he's going to be all right either. No matter what he'll do, someone is going to get hurt, because he's under no illusion that Kurt would ever forgive him if Blaine doesn't visit him in the hospital and if he does, he'll ruin all chances of a marriage that will give him some freedom once his duty to the Kingdom has been fulfilled.

Since there's nothing he can do for the moment anyway, he showers and dresses while he waits for Sam to return and by the time he does, Blaine's on the couch and watching the news again.

"I got in touch with Mr. Hummel but he, uh, said, you've already done enough and that he doesn't need your help. And the hospital wouldn't give out any information since I couldn't tell them I was calling on your behalf. They said if I was really a friend of Kurt's than I should contact his family and they could give me an update. But um, I'm not sure that Mr. Hummel would. At least not if he knows it's really you that's asking," Sam says and Blaine slams his hand down on the coffee table in frustration.

Because the Palace can't inquire about Kurt's health without it being made public and Kurt's friends probably will be just as reluctant to update him as Burt Hummel. Because he's pretty sure they all know Blaine broke up with Kurt no matter what the Palace's statement said and he would be naive to think they didn't all take Kurt's side. Not knowing what else to do, he sends a text message to Burt Hummel and prays that the man will take pity on him and give him and update once he gets to New York.

 _Mr. Hummel. I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from right now, but I'm really worried about Kurt and I would be eternally grateful if you could let me know how he's doing. Please don't tell him I've asked because I'm not supposed to be in contact with him, but I would really appreciate it if you could give me an update once you've seen him. - B_

Then he pockets his phone and turns to Sam. "Have my office call the Prime Minister and tell him I have to postpone our meeting for personal reasons. And make them clear my calendar for the rest of the day too. There's no way I will be able to concentrate until I know Kurt's doing okay."

"You could just go and visit him," Sam points out. "I'm sure you wouldn't be refused."

"Really, you think Kurt would even let me see him after…?" he trails off because he knows it was a dick move to just end things with Kurt and then say in the press it was a mutual decision.

"You really hurt him, but Kurt loves you, so I think yes, he'd would like to see you, because it would prove that you still care."

"And if I don't go and see him?" Blaine asks because apparently it's gotten to the point where he's getting relationship advice from his personal guards. Which shouldn't be a bad thing since Puck's been in a relationship with Dr. Fabray for two years and Sam's been with his high school sweetheart Mercedes for nearly eight years already.

"If I were him, I'd never want to see you again if you didn't bother to come see me in the hospital," Sam says simply. "But then again that shouldn't be a problem for you, right? I mean you, broke up with him and you plan to marry Lady Charlotte so why should it matter if he wants to see you again or not? Unless, you'd rather be with him, but decided to make both of you unhappy instead of trying to find a way to make it work with him."

And with that Sam walks out of the room, leaving Blaine to his thoughts again.

* * *

"Maybe I'm paranoid, but is that waiter glaring daggers at me?" Cooper asks his wife while they are having a romantic dinner together on the the terrace of a restaurant facing the ocean. The kids are with a nanny provided by the hotel so they can enjoy a night out just the two of them.

Sarah looks over her shoulder and winces. "If I were you I probably wouldn't eat or drink whatever he brings over. He looks like he wants to strangle you."

"Well, that won't do. I've heard the food here is amazing and I want to see what all the fuss is about."

He gets out of his chair and beckons the waiter to follow him down to the beach.

"Is there a problem?" he asks the young man point blank because he wants to enjoy dinner with his new wife and not have to worry about some waiter.

"It's all your fault," the young man says in a heavy southern accent. One of Cooper's former subjects then.

"You abdicated and King Blaine broke up with Kurt because apparently Kurt's not good enough for a King. Why'd you have to do it? Do you know much it meant for us to see the Crown Prince with a boyfriend?"

"But I got you access to adoption and surrogacy, I'm on your side," Cooper protests because what the hell - Blaine broke up with Kurt?

"That's gonna do us a whole lot of good if the King marries a woman because then everyone will say, look he's gay and he's in a happy relationship with a woman, so why aren't you? Do you really expect insurance to cover the cost of you having a baby with the help of a surrogate if you could just marry Mindy from next door and have a family with her the way God intended you to? Did you think about that when you made him King and forced him back into the closet? It would have been better if he'd never come out because at least then no one could say that homosexuals can be cured and have happy heterosexual relationship if they just want it badly enough."

Cooper listens to the waiter's outburst in shock, because something must have gone terribly wrong if Blaine really dumped Kurt so he can marry a woman instead. Does his brother not understand that Cooper's made it so that he can be King and with Kurt regardless what any bishops or the homophobes in the Kingdom say. Or has his brother really internalized their father's homophobia so badly that he thinks he can't be gay and be King of America because it's unheard of even though some countries in Europe have laws that would theoretically allow a homosexual King or Queen.

"Trust me, that was not my intent at all," he tells the irate waiter. "Quite the opposite actually."

And then he turns his phone on for the first time since leaving Las Vegas, bypassing all the missed calls and text messages and dialing his brother's number as he walks away from the restaurant toward the ocean.

"What the hell Blaine," he hisses when his brother picks up after the second ring. "I'm trying to enjoy my honeymoon and then I nearly get poisoned by my gay waiter because you broke with Kurt. After everything I've done for you. Have you lost your mind? You better have fixed this before I get back because I don't want to spend the rest of my life afraid that your community is going to lynch me for breaking up the dream team."

Blaine's response is to hang up the phone and Cooper looks at it flabbergasted before hurling it into the ocean because what the hell's wrong with his brother?

* * *

"After everything he's done for me?" Blaine snorts incredulously after hanging up on his brother because this takes the cake.

His brother's got some nerve, being angry with Blaine for breaking up with Kurt when it was Cooper's selfish actions that made him break up with Kurt in the first place. Cooper knows just as well as Blaine that he and Kurt don't have a future together because what point is there to them having the legal right now to have children through surrogacy if their children won't be considered legitimate heirs. So Cooper's done nothing for him, because Blaine needs to have children who can carry on the line even if it means caving and agreeing to Charlotte's demand that all heirs will be of Virginia and Carolina.

He's already in a foul mood because it's been twenty-four hours since Kurt's been identified and he still doesn't know how he's doing because no one's returned his messages. He's had Sam reach out to Dani, Rachel and even Santana but neither had responded and all he learned from the theater's website was that currently, the role of Peter Pan is played by Kurt's understudy. He's also under pressure to finally have his first meeting with Prime Minister Grey and to issue a formal invitation to the bishops so he and the Church can figure out how to move forward after Blaine spent the last two months publicly dating a man. And he so does not want to have the meeting - at least not until he's officially announced his engagement to Lady Charlotte.

The Palace has released only one other statement which said that Blaine would give a press conference once he's had time to familiarize himself with his future role since he didn't have the training his brother had and was never groomed to be King so he needs this adjustment period.

Which is true but he also wants to wait until he's officially engaged to a woman before he addresses the Kingdom for the first time so he doesn't have to deal with questions about how he can even consider accepting the Crown when he was in a public homosexual relationship until recently. Because he knows someone will ask those questions. Maybe even Prime Minister Grey, the leader of the conservative party, but most certainly the conservative media who's been very vocal about what a disgrace a gay Crown Prince was for the country. Add to this a rise in homophobic attacks in the last few days since Cooper ran off and forced Blaine's hand and his reluctance to step out as a 'gay King' should be understood. How can he 'stay' gay if all over the Kingdom people are being hurt by homophobes showing how not okay with a homosexual King they are. What if he could make it safer for people again, if he announced his engagement to Charlotte because at least then, America wouldn't be known as the gay Kingdom throughout the world.

He's pulled from his revelry by a beep from his intercom. "Yes what is it?" he asks his secretary a little more harshly than necessary because Rory is doing his best and it's not his fault Blaine's in such a bad mood.

"A Mister Burt Hummel is asking for an audience with you. He's at the east gate."

Blaine's hands shake as he pushes the button to answer. "Send him in."

If Burt's willing to see him, then Blaine will take getting yelled at over not knowing how Kurt's doing. "I'll wait for him in the library."

Fifteen minutes later, a pale looking Burt Hummel with bags under his eyes is led into the Palace library and Blaine gets up in greeting and holds out his hand to shake, but Burt ignores it and bows deeply instead.

"Your Majesty, I'm only here because it would drive me crazy not knowing how Kurt's doing and I know how you feel about my son whether you are willing to acknowledged it or not."

"Please take a seat," Blaine offers, but again Burt refuses.

"I'll make it quick. They intubated him when he had to have emergency surgery for a ruptured spleen and there's still a tube in his throat because his broken ribs cause him trouble breathing. The only way to communicate with him is through blinking because he can't use either of his hands and it hurts him to move his head. It will be at least six weeks before the casts come off and if he follows doctor's orders his ribs should have healed in six weeks too. He will be kept in the hospital for at least another week and when he's released we'll have him transferred to Ohio so Carole can care for him at home because he'll need 24/7 care until the casts are removed. Kurt's intent on returning to New York as soon as he's well enough and I won't be able to stop him, but until then he will be with family where he belongs.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Hummel. If there's anything I can do to help…"

Burt fixes him with a cold stare that makes Blaine feel like the dirt on the bottom of his shoe.

"You could grow some balls and do the right thing here, Your Majesty." It sounds like the dirtiest word in the world the way Burt says it. "Because it ain't right you not coming to see him. Because those men, they attacked him because of you, no matter what everyone says. They knew who he was to you and they nearly killed him. So grow some balls and come to see him and if you don't you better stay away from him for good, or I come after you, King or not."

"It's not that easy, Mr. Hummel," Blaine pleads and tries not to lower his eyes. "It's not like I don't want to see Kurt, but there are all those royal laws I have to follow now. And if I go, it will be on someone's Twitter within seconds and on all the evening news and I can't have that. It isn't just about me anymore, I have to do what's best for the Kingdom."

"And that's a King, who will be known as a liar _and_ a coward?" Burt snort derisively. "Years ago I told Kurt that if there aren't any roles for him, maybe he had to write them himself and I'm going to tell you the same things. If there aren't any laws that would allow you and my son to be together, change the laws. You're the King now, no one else is going to do it for you."

Blaine shakes his head dejectedly. "I wish I could, Mr. Hummel. But I can't go against the Church like that. It's a miracle they haven't forced me to abdicate yet as it is, but I can't openly defy them by demanding that parliament give me the same rights as all my subjects. And the Prime Minister would never go for it either. It would be political suicide for him."

"Seems like you made your choice then," Burt sighs. "But when your people say they hate you when you marry some floozy, don't come crawling back to Kurt. He deserves better than that."

"That's something we agree on, Mr. Hummel," Blaine offers his hand again but again, Burt bows stiffly and walks backwards out of the room as if he were a total stranger who has to follow court ceremonial to a T instead of the father of the love of Blaine's life.

He spends the rest of the day holed up in his old bedroom running through all possible scenarios. At the moment he probably is the Church's best option because no one else in his extended family is even remotely qualified for the job. Blaine's at least had had some of the same training Cooper's had. He speaks the required languages, has trained with the royal army, knows all the protocols thanks to spending his childhood in the Palace first when his grandfather was King and later when it was his father's turn, he knows how to behave in the presence of other royalty and he has a good understanding of politics at home and elsewhere even though he hasn't been able to finish his college degree. Columbia's offered to let him finish his classes online probably because it will boost the university's image if the King's a graduate and Blaine's told them he'd like to take them up on the offer the coming fall because right now, there are more important things for him to focus on. Like making a decision about Kurt.

Because it stung when Burt called him a coward. It reminded him of his father who used to call him a pansy even after Blaine had gone through rigorous military training. Are they right, he wonders as he lies on his back and stares at the ceiling as if it would offer him the answers. Is he a coward because he didn't even try to fight for his relationship? He is the most powerful person in the Kingdom and if not even the King can find a way to work around royal laws that were created to protect the royal family when nothing else would, then no one could.

The laws came from a time when wives of Kings were routinely kidnapped and raped by non ruling aristocrats who would only return them to the Palace once they were pregnant because this way they could plant an heir in the Palace. So a law was created that said that royal titles would only be issued to children born from two married royal parents. All "illegitimate children" were stripped of their titles and in some instances outcast. It was at a time when America wasn't united like today.

In the south, the youngest son of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain ruled over the Spanish colonies, while a son of Francois I was head of the French colonies along the Mississippi. Not wanting to be left out, King James I sent his son Charles I to Virginia where Charles I was crowned King of Virginia in Jamestown, the settlement named in his father's honor. James' son Robert was sent along the Saint Lawrence river where he ruled over what is now eastern Canada. It was King Charles' heirs that became the Lords over the other thirteen founding states and it was they who tried to get their sons on the throne by impregnating the wives of the reigning kings. The laws were changed and dissidents executed publicly before wars were waged on the French King of America and the Spanish King of America. By the late 18th century, the descendants of British King James I had driven the French and the Spanish out of what they called America and Canada, and Blaine's family, the line of Virginia, had been ruling America since. Apart from brief breaks between 1650 and 1710 it had always been Blaine's family who was in charge and he couldn't in good conscience be the one who ended it for selfish reasons because if there was no suitable heir in Blaine's branch, then the Carolina's who had often married into the royal family during the last 200 years might provide one.

But not until whoever the Church picked to replace him had gone through the extensive training needed today to be King or Queen and had passed all background checks. So even if he defied the Church and chose Kurt over the Crown, they couldn't get rid off him immediately and maybe if he managed to change the laws regarding royal parentage, he could create an heir before the Church could replace him and thus keep the line of Virginia going.

There where so many ifs and maybes in this plan and it all would hinge on parliament supporting his plans when parliament rarely supported the ruling monarch if the monarch didn't have the backing of the Church. Too much could go wrong if he sided with Kurt. He'd definitely lose Charlotte and very likely the throne as well and then the line of Virginia might be over because Blaine chose to be selfish.

But whenever he considers a future without Kurt in it, it feels like someone is stabbing him in the heart repeatedly. Everything would be much easier had they gone their separate ways after their ill-fated first night together, but Blaine wanted to be selfish just this once and act like he wasn't the heir presumptive to the throne. He should have stopped it the moment his father died and he became number one in line to the throne, but he'd longed for a boyfriend for so long and Kurt turned to out to be everything he ever wanted and then some. He'd thought that maybe fate would give him a break and would let him be truly happy for once, but he should have known that it wouldn't last.

And what if the fates are testing him? But if they are what's the test? Does he have to stay strong in the face of temptation or does he have to prove that he's a strong King who doesn't back away from a challenge even if that means going against the Church that legitimizes his rule, because they aren't royal by elections, it is their god given right to reign whether Blaine agrees with that or not. It's not just the the crown that will make him a true King, it's the archbishop's blessing and getting anointed with holy oil. Only then will he be His Majesty the King by Grace of God, and if the Church refuses to crown him, then he'll have no choice but to abdicate.

He's going in circles, Blaine realizes because in the end it all comes down to this: Can he risk it that the Church might force him to abdicate even if there's no suitable heir and whoever came next, would have neither the experience nor the understanding of what it means to serve the Crown and might be the worst choice for the Kingdom. Can he put his own happiness above what's best for the Kingdom on the off chance that parliament would let him change a law the would allow him to be King and with Kurt? Not for the first time in months does he curse his father for dying and starting this whole mess.

* * *

He's a little more alert today, but it's still a relief when Rachel does all the talking because communication by blinking is exhausting.

"And I wish you could have been there to see me, because Kurt, it was amazing. I mean what are the chances of both of them getting food poisoning? I honestly thought I would never go on and then there I was and people were applauding my performance," Rachel beams still on a high from getting to go on as Eliza the night before and Kurt too wishes he could have been there. He'll tell her how amazing her news is when the stupid tube's finally out and he can talk again.

"I was really nervous at first because like I said I thought I would never play the role, but I think I did well and I didn't forget any of my lines. And Jesse's so proud of me, he's spent all morning online to see if anyone had recorded the show last night."

Kurt tries not to cry when Rachel gushes about her perfect boyfriend because he'd thought he had the perfect boyfriend too - charismatic, handsome, musically inclined and a real life prince on top of that - and now he's lying in a hospital bed and his prince doesn't even care about him enough to come visit him. He isn't stupid, he knows why Blaine hasn't come. Because Blaine thinks that if he's seen at the hospital, then people will think he's picking Kurt over the Crown which is ridiculous because officially they're on a break and it's only natural that you come visit your partner in the hospital after an attack even if you are on a break. But he knows Blaine well enough that he knows he won't come, that the Crown will always come first and that when he walked out of Richmond House less than a week ago, he walked out of the King's life for good.

So he listens to Rachel go on and on about being on stage last night and how she hopes someone had filmed it so she can watch and check for things she has to improve. He's nearly asleep when there's a knock on the door and a young nurse pokes her head in, looking like a deer caught in headlines, her face pale except for the flush on her cheeks.

"Excuse me Mr. Hummel, but His Majesty is here to see you. He wants to know if he can see you."

* * *

If I manage to finish 14 today, you'll get 13 tonight. And I'm working my way through replying to comments, but I assumed you'd prefer a new chapter first ;)


	13. Chapter 13

AN: I didn't manage to finish 14 since my roommate insisted we 'winter clean' the apartment together, but I figured you'd rather have 13 tonight and then maybe wait a day longer for 14 if I don't manage to have it up tomorrow night.

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

"Excuse me Mr. Hummel, but His Majesty is here to see you. He wants to know if he can see you."

Kurt's eyes widen in shock because Blaine's the last person he expected to show up. Santana's wished him a speedy recovery through Rachel and Kurt knows she'd visit as soon as he gives the okay, but Blaine. No way.

He turns to Rachel and stares at her because he doesn't know what to do. Blaine's ripped his heart out and stomped all over it and now he's here for what? Has he been pressured to come and check up on him or does this mean that he's actually putting Kurt first?

He wants to say 'I don't know if I'm ready to see him, and please stay with me if he does come in,' but all he can do is blink yes or no or if he's feeling especially daring, shake or nod his head.

"I can tell him you just fell asleep," Rachel offers and Kurt blinks twice. "Or tell him to go to hell." Two blinks again. "But I think you should listen to what he has to say and then you can still tell him to go to hell if he's acting like an asshole, right," Rachel grins like it's no biggie to call the King of the country an asshole, and Kurt blinks once.

"Okay, then," the nervous nurse says and Rachel follows her outside and then he's here, right in Kurt's drab ICU hospital room, looking regal and put together, not like the day they found out about Cooper's betrayal.

As soon as the door closes behind him, the King's mask falls however and he rushes over to Kurt's bed and refrains from taking his hand only at the last second when he sees the extent of Kurt's injuries. And then he starts to cry, ugly sobs wrecking his body and Kurt watches helpless because even if he could he isn't sure if he would console the King who's falling apart right in front of him.

"Oh my God, Kurt, I'm so sorry," the King says between sobs and falls to his knees next to Kurt's bed, his face pressing against Kurt's upper thigh, one of the few places not covered in plaster cast. "Please forgive me. Please say you forgive me."

He keeps repeating the phrase over and over again, either forgetting that Kurt can't talk or trapped in his own world and so Kurt grits his teeth and lifts his right arm a few inches of the bed and drops his cast covered arm on the King's head. At least that gets Blaine's attention, though Kurt's bones scream at him angrily that they would prefer it if he let them heal first.

"Oh I'm sorry, Kurt. Are you okay?"

Kurt blinks rapidly because there's no code for 'I don't know' and 'what do you think'.

Blaine seems to understand him though. "Sorry, stupid question. Will you let me stay for a bit?"

Kurt blinks once because he'd really like to know why Blaine's here.

The King takes a seat on the chair Rachel vacated and runs his eyes over Kurt's body. He hasn't seen himself in the mirror yet but he knows his face is littered with cuts and bruises just like the rest of his body which is fortunately covered by a thin sheet. Kurt blushes when Blaine's eyes find the tube leading out from underneath his gown to a bag hanging on the side of the bed, but there's nothing he can do about that. He hasn't been able to leave his bed since he was admitted, being subjected to sponge baths - and he really doesn't get why some people fantasize about getting sponge baths from a nurse, because it's awkward and uncomfortable and the nurses are all middle aged women who remind him of Carole, and oh my God, his dad wants to take him home so Carole can care for him and that's not gonna happen if he can't wash himself or go to the toilet, he'll rebreak a bone if it means he can stay in the hospital instead of being washed and cleaned by his step-mother, because no, just no - and being touch in places very few people have ever touched him. All in all, it's his worst dreams come true. And he can't even talk, has to wait until the King says something so Kurt can react to it.

"I'm sorry I released the statement without talking to you first. That wasn't nice or fair." Kurt blinks once. "Charlotte was giving me an ultimatum and I panicked. I guess I'm lucky my employees don't do what I say, because I came very close to announcing my engagement to her that day."

Kurt suddenly feels sick to his stomach and he wants to scream 'why are you telling me this? Is this why you are here, to tell me in person that you are going to marry her?' But again he can't, because three guys decided that Kurt was better off dead and had they had him a bit longer, they probably would have succeeded. Kurt knows he owes his life to a young college student who walked past the alley and called the cops because she knew that if she went in there, she might not come out alive either. Caught up in his own thoughts, he nearly misses what Blaine's saying.

"… doesn't matter anymore because she told me the deal was off if I ever saw you again and people are probably tweeting about it right now. But I couldn't stay away any longer, Kurt, damn the consequences. I'm gonna try to make things right, talk to parliament about changing the laws so I can reign and be with you I you still want to. I spent all day yesterday going in circles about how I could have the cake and eat it too, but I realized I don't want the cake if I can't share it with you and I'm sorry for making you feel like you don't matter to me. I didn't really live my life before I met you and even when things got hard I was happier than ever before. So please say you still want me" Blaine stares at him imploringly and Kurt makes himself not blink at all, because this is all too much and as much as he wants to blink once and then pretend like the last five days were nothing but a bad dream, he can't. Because what if Blaine changes his mind again if parliament won't let him change whatever law the King needs to change so they can be together? What if the King breaks up with him again at the first sign of opposition from Church and the government? Because Kurt's not naive, neither the Church nor the conservative party will just accept a gay King and his boyfriend because America is not a liberal country no matter what the government and until recently the Crown wanted you to believe. And right now, he doesn't trust Blaine enough to believe that he won't just dump Kurt again if things get hard or the Church makes it a condition of Blaine's reign.

"I see," Blaine says dejectedly before he straightens his spine and puts his game face back on. "Well, it was good to see you are doing a bit better, Kurt," he says in his official voice. "Is it okay if I check in on you again?" The King's mask is back in place, only his eyes tell Kurt what he's really trying to say ' 'please, can I see you again. Please, let me prove I mean it.'

Lucky for the King, Kurt's not ready to give up on him just yet either, and so he blinks once and watches the tiny smile on the King's face before it's replaced with a mask of indifference again.

* * *

As soon as Blaine steps out of the ICU, Sam, Puck and his two new personal guards Jake and Ryder form a protective circle around him and Blaine tries not to show any real emotions when all around him, hospital staff and visitors alike take pictures of the King after his visit to his (ex?)lover's hospital bed. Unsurprisingly, once they leave the hospital and head for the waiting car, he's met with even more cameras from the major TV stations and even a few from foreign Kingdoms.

"Your Majesty, how is Kurt Hummel doing? Can we take this a confirmation that you have reconciled."

He knows he shouldn't give a statement, can hear Sue's angry voice as he opens his mouth but he wants to say something and here's his chance.

"Kurt Hummel was the victim of a heinous attack and we should be focusing on making the streets safer for the people in this city instead of gossiping about the nature of my relationship with Mr. Hummel. It wasn't just a heinous attack, it was also a cowardly attack, because his attackers outnumbered him three to one, and accosted him in a part of the city that's badly lit and where the police force has been affected by budget cuts the most. I will meet with Police commissioner Arguilos and Mayor Abrams this week to discuss how we can improve safety in all parts of the city because I don't just want the people who are lucky enough to live in the vicinity of the Palace to be safe, but everyone in this city and in this Kingdom. This is 2017 and I'm sick and tired of having to read about hate crimes against minorities. I want to be King for everyone in this Kingdom but let me tell you, on days like last Sunday, some of my subjects make it very hard. I would asks you all to be a little nicer to each other, because what does it change if we attack each other. It won't change someone's skin color, faith, gender or sexuality because you beat them, so why not try to open your heart and your mind a little and maybe put yourself in someone else's shoes for once. And now your naive, too hopeful King has to go and meet the Prime Minister, because I have made him wait too long already."

Blaine lets out a deep breath as soon as he is in the safety of his car before he turns to Rory who's been waiting in the car for him. Ryder and Jake are riding in the car in front of them and Puck's with the security detail behind them, with Sam in the passenger seat of Blaine's car. "Is the Prime Minister on his way?"

"Yes Your Majesty" Rory squeaks, still nervous in Blaine's presence. "He should be at the Palace in an hour."

Blaine's summoned the Prime Minister to discuss changing the royal parentage law because even if Kurt doesn't take him back, it would open up all sorts of possibilities for him outside of having to marry a woman. If the Prime Minister can't be convinced, he'll have to contact the leader of the liberal party next since it was her bill that Cooper supported right before he abdicated.

Prime Minister Grey, a round man with a perpetually red face and little hair left on his head, arrives shortly after Blaine's made it back to the Palace himself because even the royal motorcade can get stuck in New York traffic.

"I'm sorry for not meeting you sooner, Prime Minister," Blaine apologizes after asking Thomas Grey to take a seat. "I had a personal issue to deal with."

"Yes, I saw on the way here," Prime Minister Grey wrinkles his nose. "How is Mr. Hummel?"

"Recovering," Blaine says simply because he knows the Prime Minister is just trying to be polite and doesn't really want to know. "But actually, before we discuss this week's agenda I have a favor to ask."

The Prime Minister gives him a look that seems to say go on and Blaine continues.

"As you are well aware there are certain restrictions within royal law that will make a future relationship between myself and Mr. Hummel very complicated, maybe even nigh on impossible and therefore I would very much appreciate you support in changing Royal Law 32 which pertains to royal parentage as you may know…" Blaine trails off when he sees the incredulous expression on the Prime MInister's face.

"You gotta be kidding me - does no one in your family talk?" the Prime Minister asks exasperatedly, forgetting himself for a moment. "Your brother tricked me into supporting a change of that law right before he abdicated by making me think he is infertile and wouldn't be able to carry on the line without medical help. Your Majesty," he tacks on when he remembers who he is talking to but it's Blaine's turn to look at the Prime Minister incredulously.

"He did what?"

"He changed the laws so that His Majesty could marry a man and have His children recognized as legitimate heirs, all with the backing of the Church who probably didn't understand what they were really supporting either and now there's nothing I or the Church can do. We can't force His Majesty to abdicate because by law His Majesty can now have legal heirs and that's the most important requirement for a King. I can tell His Majesty one thing though, His children may be issued titles if they are biologically His but His spouse never will, because the Church will never bless His civil marriage."

Blaine's barely listening at this point, grinning like a loon and silently cursing Cooper for forgetting to tell him the most important thing, because he's read Cooper's letter countless of times and there was nothing about changing royal law in it.

"Kurt doesn't care about titles," he shrugs "and I'm sure we could come to an agreement regarding children as long as I can have children who will be legitimate heirs."

He wants to jump up and down and rush back to Kurt's hospital room immediately to tell him the good news but unfortunately there's still a lot of things he needs to discuss with the Prime Minister and so instead of celebrating, he spends the next five hours discussing bills, the upcoming election, a proposal about raising the national minimum wage which Blaine supports but the conservative party doesn't and it probably won't go through even with Blaine's support unless he convince a few conservatives to vote with him on this.

And then he's finally free but when he has Sam call the hospital he's told that visiting hours are over and there won't be made an exception especially not for the King because of the commotion his earlier visit caused.

"You can come back tomorrow at ten," Sam informs him after hanging up the phone and so Blaine decides he should use this time to call Cooper and yell at his brother for causing him the worst heartache in his life and nearly making him agree to marry Charlotte because he thought he had no other choice.

"Woah, Squi, I mean Blaine, slow down. Why are you yelling at me? Seriously, this is turning out to be one hell of a stressful honeymoon. And there I thought my life would be easier once I got rid off the throne."

"You. Did. Not. Tell. Me. You. Changed. That. Fucking. Royal. Parentage. Law. Cooper. What. The. Fuck. I broke up with Kurt because I thought I had to marry a woman thanks to you. I nearly announced my engagement to Charlotte that day. And you know what's the worst part. The Paparazzi went so crazy, Kurt thought he'd be safer taking the subway home and then he got jumped and they nearly killed him."

"Woah, back up there. What happened to Kurt? And sure I told you, I put it all in the letter and I gave a press conference."

"You did not talk about the royal law at the press conference and you did not tell me you changed it too in your letter. Trust me I would have seen it if you had."  
"Huh," Cooper says, sounding actually surprised. "I was certain I had. I'm really sorry, Squirt. But what about Kurt?"

"He's in the hospital with a bunch of broken bones and like internal bleeding and he can't talk because there's a tube down his throat that helps him breathe, his nose is broken and he's covered in bruises and it's all my fault, because I said publicly that we broke up and basically sent the paparazzi after him. I should have known that he wouldn't take a cab home, too afraid that he would lead the reporters there."

"You couldn't have known he would be attacked, no one could. You can't blame yourself for that," Cooper tells him but there won't be a day when he doesn't blame himself for Kurt's injuries. Because what if the tube in his throat causes an infection and ruins Kurt's singing voice? What if he can never move normally again or do a dance routine because of his shattered ankle? What if he develops PTSD and needs years of therapy to cope with the aftermath of the attack. Blaine would't love him any less for any of that but Kurt may never forgive him if he has to live with the aftermath of the attack for the rest of his life.

"I'm really sorry, Squirt," his brother repeats. "Everything I did was for you and then I still went and messed it up. But we're flying back tonight and I'll tell Kurt that it's all my fault and that if he has to hate someone it better be me."

"Don't Cooper. It won't change anything because no matter why I did it, I still chose the Crown over him and that's what he's always been afraid of, since the moment Dad died and it became an actual possibility that I might be King some day."

"Well though luck, because Sarah's already packed our bags and we're flying back tonight. Because contrary to what you may believe, I care about your boyfriend too. Because I've never see you as happy as when you were with him. And maybe, just maybe, I'd like you to meet my wife as well even if you don't seem to be all that interested in her. Or her kids that I plan to adopt."

Blaine suddenly feels like the worst brother in the world because he hasn't asked about his new sister-in-law, not once, not when Cooper called to yell at him or in the cause of this conversation.

"I'm sorry Coop. Obviously, I'd love to meet the woman that made you want to settle down and abdicate the throne for her."

"I didn't _just_ do it for her, Blaine. I never planned to be King for the rest of my life, I just thought I would have more time."

"So I should be grateful that you did it before I married some girl to make Dad happy or was going from affair to affair, never having a real relationship to keep him from exiling me?" Blaine asks incredulously.

"You are twisting my words, Squirt."

Don't call me that. You said it yourself. It doesn't sound right to call the King Squirt. You made me King, so stop calling me that. Because it's not the same for me. You've known your whole life that you were gonna be King some day and you've been groomed for it since you were young. I was only ever just the spare in case something happened to you before you had your own family, never meant to be King myself and you know it. No one cared when I didn't get straight As in school, when I didn't finish my degree or when I was a shitty soldiers only good at flying, because I was nothing in the eye of my father and my King. All my life there was precious Cooper and useless Blaine."

"But he is gone, Blaine. You don't need to try to impress him anymore. So what if you weren't intended to be King? You're gonna make a much better King than I could ever have been, how many more times do I have to tell you that before you believe it? I wouldn't have abdicated for you if I didn't think you are the most qualified for the job. And get it into your thick skull that your sexuality has nothing to do with it. Being gay won't make you a worse King than if you pretend to like women. You are going to do whats right for the Kingdom because you are compassionate and kind not because you prefer to jerk off to _Playgirl_ instead of _Playboy_."

"Coop," Blaine chides weakly, but the fight has left him and all he wants right now is snuggle with Kurt and tell him all about his stupid older brother. "Let me know when you're back in the city, okay. I really would love to meet your wife and my niece and nephew."

All he wants to do after his call to Cooper is go to bed so it will be morning sooner and he can see Kurt again, but there's one more call he has to make.

"Deal's off, Blaine or do you really think I don't know about your little trip to Brooklyn Hospital," Charlotte says without preamble sounding resigned like she knew this would happen.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte. I really believe that you would be the best candidate for my wife if I loved women like that, but I don't and my stupid brother made it so that I don't have to. But I do feel bad for how I've been treating you the past five years, so I'm sending you Crown Prince Carlos of Spain's phone number. I have it on good authority that he's looking for a wife from outside of Europe and you can trust me when I say he's super hot. If I wasn't in love with Kurt and he was on my team I'd go after him myself. If you want I can arrange a meeting between the two of you if you are interested."

And then to his surprise, Charlotte actually laughs. "Oh my God, I can't believe you're dumping me again _and_ trying to set me up with another guy all in one sentence. And a guy you think I should date because you find him hot. I never stood a chance with you, did I?"  
Blaine doesn't say anything because he would have married her if Santana hadn't outed him and his father hadn't died, just to keep the peace in the family and so he could stay in the city where you could always find another closet case willing to engage in a brief and discreet affair.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you," he says instead because it's better if she never finds out how far he was willing to take this while he was cheating on her with any guy willing to be discreet. "And I hope you'll find someone who will make you happy."

"It's gonna take some time, but eventually I want you to be happy too. But for now let me be angry a little longer and don't expect congratulations from me when you get back together with him."

Somehow, everyone else in his life seems more sure that Kurt will take him back than he is himself, but hopefully they are right.

* * *

Doctor Renfrew is back with his interns and today their plan's to extubate him and Kurt goes pale when they explain the process because how is he supposed to cough when his ribs hurt when he does nothing but lie still in bed.

"We are going to administer an intercostal nerve block before we extubate and once the tube is out we will put in an epidural catheter through which a local anesthetic and an opioid will be administered to hopefully achieve the desired analgesic effect while you are in our care," the main doctor says and Kurt frowns because he may as well have been speaking Chinese.

"We are going to numb the space between your ribs so it won't hurt too bad when we pull the tube out and after we're going to put a catheter into your back through which your pain medicine will be administered because it's one of the most effective methods of reducing pulmonary complications," one of the interns explain and then they go to work on him and no matter what they've injected him with it hurts like hell when the tube's pulled from his throat and they make him cough again and again to clear any phlegm from his lungs.

And when the doctors are finally satisfied, they carefully put a nasal cannula into his healing broken nose and Kurt sucks in the air gratefully because without it, every breath feels like a breath taken with a bolder on his chest. He's moved onto his side then with the help of two more interns because his injured arms have to be moved and they are trying not to put pressure on his ribs as they do so and then his hospital gown is parted and Kurt whimpers as a needle is pushed into his spine because it hurts like hell when it's supposed to make him feel better.

"You will be able to adjust the dose as needed," a young doctor explains and hands Kurt a pump before he's carefully moved back onto his back, a tube now connected to the catheter in his back but surprisingly it bothers him less than he thought it would and he's already breathing a little easier and the pain's more manageable.

And then the group leaves him again with instructions to the nurse that Kurt can be moved to a regular room if he keeps improving over the next twenty-four hours. The nervous nurse from the day before comes back too and announces that His Majesty would like to see Kurt, and Kurt nods softly, not trusting his voice just yet as he sucks on ice chips to soothe the soreness.

His eyes widen in surprise though when the King who steps into his room, isn't King Blaine.

"Your-" he tries to force out.

"Don't try to talk," Cooper tells him immediately and hands him a cup of water with a straw in it and Kurt sucks down the cool liquid gratefully.

"Your Majesty," it comes out easier the second time. "Thought you were on your honeymoon."

"It's just Cooper now until my brother decides what title he'll give me. And I couldn't keep drinking straight from coconuts and ogling my hot wife on the beach when you are in the hospital. Contrary to what my brother may think, I'm not heartless."

"But you…" Kurt rasps but doesn't finish because he doesn't know what he's trying to say. 'Ruined my life. Ruined Blaine's life.'

"I messed up, I'm sorry Kurt. I forgot to tell Blaine. I was so excited about marrying Sarah I forgot to tell him the most important thing. But you'll forgive me right?"

Kurt has no clue what the former King is saying, but Cooper looks so dejectedly that he nods and Cooper gives him a blinding smile in return.

"Then it's settled. As soon as you are better, I want you and Blaine to meet my family. But I wanna wait until you look less banged up, because I'm afraid you may scare the kids."

"We broke up," Kurt croaks, brows furrowed in confusion because surely if Cooper found out about his injuries during his honeymoon, he must know about the break up too.

"Yeah, but that's all in the past now," Cooper waves him off dismissively. "Now you should think about when you are going to get married and where you'll live until then because my mom's a bitch and I'm pretty sure she'll tell Blaine you can't live at the Palace before you get hitched. And Lucy loved being a flower girl so much, she told me her mom and I need get married again so she can be the flower girl and I'm sure she'd love to do it for yours too."

Kurt wonders briefly if maybe he accidentally gave himself another dose of the morphine they have him on and he's hallucinating, because Cooper's talking about his wedding like it's a done deal and not a big maybe depending on the outcome of Blaine's talk with the government.

"Cooper, I have't told him yet."

Blaine's standing in the doorway, a kitten plush in his arms since flowers aren't allowed in Kurt's room and takes in the scene. His brother is sitting on a chair next to Kurt, who looks at Cooper in bewilderment. Kurt's bed has been slightly elevated so it looks like he's sitting up a bit, and the horrible tube in his throat is gone to Blaine's relief. There's a little more color in Kurt's cheeks, but his face is still marred by cuts and cruises and his nose looks horribly swollen still. But he's awake and seems to be talking and that's the most important thing.

"Oh," Cooper says and then he's out of the chair and wraps Blaine up in a tight hug. "I really am sorry, Squirt."

He is released just as quickly and then Cooper bows his head to Blaine, which feels weird because his brother was a crowned King. "Your Majesty, I'll leave you to it."

Blaine stops him before he can walk out of the room, remembering his new role. "I want you and your family at the Palace for dinner tonight. There are quite a few things you and I need to discuss, but I want to meet your wife first. So be there at seven, I'll let Palace security know you are coming. In the mean time, your belongings have been moved to Richmond House and you and your family are welcome to stay there while you are in the city. Everything else, we'll discuss later tonight."

"Yes, sir," Cooper salutes him with a grin and then he's alone with Kurt, who looks like he's trying not to laugh before he catches Blaine's gaze and schools his expression.

"Your brother thinks we're getting married," Kurt rasps and Blaine's beside him in a flash. It's wonderful to hear Kurt's voice again, but he can hear the strain in it, so he shushes him and holds a cup of water out to his face and when Kurt nods, places the straw between his chapped and cut lips and watches as Kurt gulps down the liquid.

"I spoke to the Prime Minister yesterday," Blaine explains while Kurt drinks. "And it looks like Cooper changed the royal law that regulates the succession to the throne before he abdicated but forgot to tell me about it. So basically I was an asshole for nothing, ruined our relationship and made you end up in the hospital, all for nothing. Because if I understand it right, we could have gotten married that day and I would still be able to be King and have heirs with you."

"S' not your fault, the hospital," Kurt says around the straw and Blaine removes it. "You didn't put me into the hospital, those men did. They were out for blood, and if it hadn't been me, they would have attacked someone else, so I'm not blaming you for this."

But for everything else, Blaine's subconscious supplies. And even if Kurt says it's not his fault, Blaine's still blaming himself for it, because it's his fault Kurt was there in the first place.

"I could have called Sam because he offered his help, but I wanted to prove to everyone that I didn't need help, that I wasn't affected by what the press said. Also, I knew it can be dangerous at night where I live, but I put the pepper spray Dani bought me into my closet because I thought I would never need it."

Kurt closes his eyes after his little speech, sweat beading at his temple, and Blaine wipes it away carefully with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Don't talk so much. The doctors will have my head on a platter if my visits make you worse. How about I let you go back to sleep and come back later tonight, if that's okay? Is your family still in the city?"

Kurt blinks once, waits a few seconds and blinks once again. Blaine doesn't ask him for forgiveness and another chance again, because it's more important that Kurt gets better now and he'll probably have to do more than just promise Kurt he'll put him first from now on; he'll have to show him. And if that means visiting twice a day for the time being which is the ultimate confirmation that the King's very much in love with Kurt still, so be it.

* * *

Cooper's step children are lovely, Blaine decides as he watches them look around the Palace in awe as Cooper gives his new family a tour with Blaine beside him.

"If you are not King anymore, does that mean that you are a prince again?" Lucy asks. "I like Prince better anyway," she says and Blaine chuckles because it's nice to be with people who don't understand yet how they are supposed to treat the King.

"You will have to ask the King. He'll get to decide that," Cooper tells her and Lucy spins around and looks at Blaine with her hands on her hips.

"Can he?"

"I'm sorry, honey, but Cooper's going to be a Duke because Duke is the highest rank below the monarch. As a former King, he can't be just a prince and he can't be the Crown Prince again."

"Why not?" Lucy asks

"Because only the heir to the throne can be the Crown Prince or Princess, so right now a very old lady is the Crown Princess until King Blaine has his own children and then his oldest son or oldest daughter will be the Crown Prince or Crown Princess," Cooper explains to her, and Blaine makes a mental note to check that someone's informed great aunt Sophia of her new title even if it's just a perfunctory title, since the Crown would pass her over if anything happened to Blaine or the Church found a way to force him to abdicate after all.

"Can I be a princess too? It's okay if Billy's no prince, but I'd love to be a princess."

Blaine smiles at her sadly. Because Cooper married a divorcee he can't confer the title of Duchess on her and neither can he give her children royal titles. Even if they have more children they won't get titles, since the changed law only confers titles on children born through reproductive medicine when the parents can't conceive naturally. It's a nice loophole for Blaine, because obviously he and his future husband won't be able to conceive naturally and so at least any children that are biologically Blaine's would get styled prince or princess.

"You are my princess though and trust me, that's much better than some stuffy title," Cooper scoops her up and throws her into the air, making her squeal.

After dinner, a car takes Sarah and the kids to Richmond House and Cooper and Blaine move into the library, Blaine's favorite place at the Palace.

"So what are your plans?" he asks his brother. "Are you really going to move to Hollywood?" He tries not to sound too judgmental, but, seriously, it sounds so frivolous to give up the throne to pursue an acting career, especially when for all he knows, Cooper could be a horrible actor. "What does Sarah do?"

"She's a paralegal and yes, we're moving to California once the school year is over. I'm sure I will get plenty of offers, since I'm already famous, and Sarah can find a new job there too. We'll stay at Richmond House for now if the offer still stands and I have already found an acting coach to prepare me for my first auditions."

"Alright, then." What else is there to say? Cooper seems to have made up his mind, and while Blaine could forbid it since he's in charge now, he doesn't see the point in telling his brother he can't follow his dream.

The press will be hard on him whatever he does next, since he forced the Church's hand and made his gay brother King, so it might as well be Hollywood.

"You know the media won't be kind when they find out your plans so emphasize that you abdicated for love. Emphasize that you couldn't imagine your life without her and that as King you couldn't have married and had a family with her that carried on the line. People will be more sympathetic to this than you abdicating because you'd rather be anything but King."

Cooper nods in agreement.

"Emma's organized a press conference for tomorrow morning and I'd like you there with me. I'll announce your new title - and I'm sorry but you know that your title can't include your last name. If you want your stage name to be Cooper Anderson, be my guest, but I can't style you Duke Cooper Anderson, okay?"

Cooper doesn't look happy but he nods.

"You will also explain all the laws you changed before you abdicated for me and what this will mean for he Kingdom. I want the Kingdom to know that you thought things through before you abdicated and only did so, when you were sure you'd secured the future succession to the throne. I will then ask the press to stay away from your wife's children and threaten anyone with a lawsuit who prints their picture without permission because legally they aren't part of the royal family and are thus entitled to privacy."

"Are going to say something about Kurt?" Cooper asks and Blaine shrugs.

"It doesn't feel right to talk about him before I know he'll take me back so I'll have to keep it vague."

* * *

Kurt watches the royal press conference from his new hospital bed in a normal room with Dani by his side, though since it's a single, he's sure the Palace had a hand in it, because his health insurance would not get him a single room. A nurse had come in earlier to let him know that the King would come by later in the evening since he had to give a press conference first and Kurt had asked her to turn on the TV shortly before Dani came to visit him. Cooper and Blaine are both dressed in expertly tailored suits, only the royal pin worn by the reigning monarch is now on Blaine's lapel instead of Cooper's.

"Thank you all for coming, today. Before we begin I would like to announce the conferment of the following titles. His Royal Highness Prince Cooper of Virginia, formerly King of America, will hence force be known as His Royal Highness, Duke Cooper of Virginia. Her Royal Highness Princess Sophia of Virginia will hence force be known as Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess and heir presumptive of Virginia. Royal law forbids me from conferring the title of Duchess of Virginia to the Duke's wife Sarah Anderson, but I would like to welcome her and her children Lucy and William to the family nonetheless."

Kurt watches as Queen Pamela, who returned from Europe just this morning according to the news, fidgets in her seat, seemingly not all that happy with her new daughter-in-law and her step grandchildren.

Dani seems to catch it too, because she grins and says, "look on the bright side, you and Sarah can bond over how much your mother-in-law doesn't like you," and Kurt rolls his eyes because he hasn't decided yet if he'll take Blaine back and everyone's already planing their wedding.

"Before I address the Kingdom, the Duke would like to say a few words." The King on TV steps aside for his brother and takes a seat next to his mother.

"I'd like to clear a few things up, because I know my abdication came as a shock to the Kingdom. This was not a spur of the moment decision. The moment I fell in love with my wife I started looking into ways I could marry her and still ensure that my family's line would continue to reign over America. I did not abdicate until I was sure that my brother could carry on the line with a partner of his choice. To guarantee that, I changed royal law that previously said that both parents of a royal heir had to be of royal blood either by birth or marriage. I added a provision that allows married royal couples access to reproductive medicine if they cannot conceive naturally without the resulting children being deprived of royal titles. The provision also states that royal couples have to follow the rules established in common law and thanks to common law SSC 1096 which legalizes adoption and reproductive medicine for civilly married same sex couples, a civilly married royal same sex couple will now have access to the same procedures. In short, once King Blaine marries, all children born through surrogacy that are biologically his, will be eligible for royal titles and King Blaine's first born will be the heir apparent to the Crown of America. I believe King Blaine will be a great King and I hope you all give him a chance to prove himself regardless of his sexuality. That's all."

Emma quickly silences the reporters in the room when they start yelling questions and Kurt does the same with Dani when she looks at him in astonishment and like she has millions of questions, because he wants to hear what Blaine has to say.

"This has come as a shock to me too, because I never expected to be King, but it means at lot to me that the Duke believes I'm the best choice for the Kingdom. I know that not everyone is in love with the idea of having an openly homosexual man as their reigning monarch, but I'd like you to give me a chance to prove that I'm more than that, and that I can be a King for everyone in America whether they agree with me on my 'life choices' or not. I also know that it's unusual for a monarch to reign without a consort by his or her side, but then again, it is unusual as well in this day and age for a King or Queen to be this young. I've only just turned twenty five, and I hope you'll forgive me if I won't rush into a marriage right now. I want to focus on the Kingdom right now and learn how to be the best King I can be, and one day, hopefully, the man that I love, will be my husband. However, as long as I reign, there won't be a King consort, and as future head of the Church, I understand why the Church won't bless my marriage. With me as King, it won't be easy for the Crown or the Church, but I'm willing to work with the bishops to hopefully find some common ground once I've proven to them that I am the right choice for the Kingdom and if this hadn't been God's plan, he would have blessed my parents with another child as soon as I came out to myself as a young teen, who I could abdicate for in a few years."

"Oh, snap, that was a good one. Throwing the whole, 'we're all part of God's plan' talk the Church always does back into their faces," Dani snarks and Kurt shushes her again, because Blaine's not done.

"I am not asking for the Church's blessing, but I hope it will open it's heart to my future partner and will welcome our children with open arms. I know that is a lot to ask since I am very familiar with the Church's teachings on homosexuality, but I know the Church also teaches love and acceptance and I am appealing to the bishops to put love first and to help me make sure that in our Kingdom love always trumps hate."

"Are you crying?" Kurt asks when Dani wipes a tear from her face and she looks at him incredulously.

"How are you not? And didn't you hear him, he called you the man that he loves on live TV and he said that he wants to marry you one day."

Kurt shakes his head stubbornly. "He was talking in hypotheticals. Anyone could be the future man he loves."

"Uh, uh," Dani gives him a look that screams 'you crazy'. "Because you would have been okay with him saying your name without asking you first. I could see that go over well."

"You got a point," Kurt agrees reluctantly, because yes, he wouldn't not have been okay with Blaine talking about him, when Kurt's still on the fence about getting back together with him, because it had been incredibly hard to date a Crown Prince, but the King. He's not sure he's up for that. All those rules a wife of a King would have to obey, would they apply to him to? Or would they only apply to him if he and Blaine were actually married? Questions he should ask the King point blank instead of letting his imagination run wild.

* * *

He gets his chance later that day, when Blaine visits him again as promised, a large bouquet of white and blue roses in his hand, which Kurt much prefers over red roses. He's touched that Blaine remembers a throw away comment that he made when Blaine joked about getting him two dozen red roses for his opening night months ago.

"I saw you on the news," he says, talking a little easier today even though he still needs the extra oxygen to breathe easier in addition to the epidural analgesia. "You sounded very kingly."

"Thanks, I guess," Blaine puts the flowers in a vase he brought into the room with him and puts it on Kurt's bedside table. "You look better today."

Kurt's pretty sure he doesn't because his hair's all greasy and he probably smells and since his face still feels like it got mistaken for a punching bag, it's probably still all bruised. But he should probably accept what Blaine's saying and take it as a sign that the King does still love him when Kurt's current state doesn't make him recoil.

"Were you talking about me when you said you hoped to marry the man you love one day?" he then asks point blank, because why waste time?

"Of course, I did, Kurt. There's no one else."

He knows that but the meds are messing with his emotions and though he logically knew that Blaine was probably talking about him, he needed to hear it from the King himself.

Blaine carefully touches his thumb to the ring finger on Kurt's right hand, one of three fingers that isn't broken, and rubs in a soothing motion and Kurt sighs because it's nice to be touched by someone that isn't a doctor or a nurse, because not even his own father has dared to touch him so far, his friends and family too afraid that he'll break if they touch him.

"And just knowing that you consider marrying me one day too, that would be enough."

Kurt takes a deep breath, or as deep a breath he can without screaming in pain.

"What would be expected of me if we get back together? How do you date a King?"

"I'm not sure," Blaine tells him honestly, but there's a small smile on his face like Kurt just considering the possibility is making him happy. "There's not really any precedent, since Cooper only dated in secret. We probably should be married by the time I'm thirty so we can start a family, though," the King continues. "And until then you'd take language lessons, come to Church with me on Sundays because I have to go and people would talk if you don't accompany me, and just make everyone in the Kingdom fall in love with you so that when we get married, everyone will be happy for us."

"Just make everyone fall in love with me," Kurt repeats incredulously. "You do remember that I'm recovering from a homophobic attack right now. I'll never get everyone to like me. If we stay together, maybe I'll even be the most hated person in the Kingdom because I'm keeping you from being married to a Queen and an actor definitely isn't good enough for a King. Or would I have to give it up?"

"You'll probably have to take some time off when we have kids, because even though you won't be my wife, I'll expect that a lot of people will treat you like you are in a very old fashioned way. Like they'll expect you to keep your mouth shut and look pretty and raise our children while I rule the Kingdom with the Prime Minister. But no, I don't see why you couldn't keep doing it. We'd have to figure out something for your safety, because I can't use royal guards for your protection if we aren't married, but I'm sure we could figure something out. I could hire you a driver who'll make sure you get home safe and undetected by the paparazzi until we get married and you move into the Palace with me."

Kurt considers it for a moment and though he doesn't want to be seen as a diva who needs bodyguards and a private driver, it would make him feel safer, especially if he keeps living with Dani for the foreseeable future.

"Have they caught them, the men who…?" Blaine shakes his head angrily.

"No, none of the cameras in the area were working and the witness also could only give a generic description. You sure they didn't have tattoos on their faces or like weird piercings?"

Kurt shakes his head. He gave his statement to the Police yesterday after Blaine left but all he could tell them was that it was three white men, maybe late twenties, early thirties, jeans, bomber jacket and baseball caps and what felt like work boots when they kicked him. They sounded like they were locals, and didn't use any names while they attacked Kurt.

"Police is canvassing the area though to see if they weren't seen by anyone else before or after and they are instructed to let the Palace know as soon as they've found anything."

Kurt's quiet for a moment before he says in a soft voice.

"I think I'm glad I'll be going to Ohio for a bit, because I'm not ready to go back to Bushwick. Because what if they live in my neighborhood and they try to finish the job if they see me again? Honestly, if I could, I'd just stay in the hospital until I'm fully healed because I don't want Carole to be my nurse but I also know that I can't stay in New York right now because I can't do anything for myself."

"If you'd like, I could hire someone so Carole doesn't have to be your actual nurse. But no hot guy though."

"Well then obviously, my answer is no," Kurt surprises himself by joking, though he'd like to say 'no, I can pay myself', but he can't, because he's still paying rent and he really doesn't make all that much money.

"My Dad won't like it," he says instead but Blaine just shrugs.

"Tough, but this isn't about what he likes, this is making sure you're comfortable and if the through of having Carole as your full time nurse, makes you uncomfortable then I only care what you want. So please let me help. No strings attached, okay? I'll give you all the time and space you need, so at least my statement wasn't a total lie and when you're ready to either get back together or break up, you'll let me know."

"You'll still come visit me until I go to Ohio?" Kurt asks because a visit from Blaine is the highlight of his hospital day at the moment.

"As long as you want me, every single day."

* * *

Blaine watches as Kurt heals slowly and by the time he's released from the hospital, nearly all the bruising is gone, and his nose is starting to look like a nose again. Blaine has arranged a medical transport to Ohio for Kurt and he watches as the middle aged nurse he hired, helps Kurt get out of bed for the first time in two weeks.

Kurt's clearly in pain, grimacing as the bed is raised so he's sitting up and Blaine wraps an arm around Kurt's right side when instructed by Irma who calls him Blaine - because any other title takes too much time when he's supposed to be helping her - while Irma carefully stabilizes his left side, where a scar is hidden under the hospital gown.

All tubes have been removed from Kurt's body before Blaine came over this morning to introduce him to Irma, so at least he doesn't have to worry over tripping over something that might hurt Kurt if accidentally pulled out. Together, they carefully turn him until his legs are hanging over the edge of the bed, his left foot in a cast boot that should allow him to walk as long as someone's holding him, since he can't use crutches. Blaine and Irma put him on his feet and Kurt sways for a moment, unused to being upright after two weeks stuck in a hospital bed.

"Okay?" Blaine asks and Kurt nods slowly, after shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Alright, lets get you dressed then."

Irma holds him up while Blaine kneels down in front of him and helps him put on underwear before dressing Kurt in sweatpants because none of his pants would fit over the cast. He tries not to wince, when Kurt's gown comes off and his sees the scar from his partial splenectomy, but he knows Kurt's lucky that a part of his spleen could be preserved.

Very carefully, a t-shirt is put over Kurt's head and his encased arms put through the wholes and Blaine puts a sock and a shoe on Kurt's right foot while Irma puts a thick blanket around his upper body before Kurt's lowered into a wheel chair and Blaine wheels him out of the room, Sam, Puck, Ryder and Jake all by his side immediately and Blaine introduces Kurt to his new guards as they take an elevator up to the roof where a helicopter is waiting to fly Kurt and Irma to Ohio. It's cold for mid march and Blaine takes off his jacket and wraps it around Kurt as well when he sees him shiver out on the roof.

"When you're ready I'll be there," he reminds him and then Kurt surprises him and asks for a kiss before he goes.

Blaine presses a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth, where his lip wasn't cut so bad it needed stitches and then backs away slowly, while Irma lifts Kurt out of the wheel chair and into the helicopter like he weighs nothing.

Surrounded by his guards, Blaine watches as Kurt flies away and he hopes and prays that Kurt didn't just fly away for good.

 **6 Weeks Later**

Kurt's at the Columbus Airport saying goodbye to his Dad. He said goodbye to Carole the previous night because she's on the early shift and didn't want him to get up with her.

"Are you sure about this, Kurt?" his dad asks for what feels like the hundreds time and Kurt rolls his eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure, Dad. I've been given the all clear by my doctor, by Irma and even Carole says I'm healthy enough to go back. It's not a singing role so I don't have to have perfect breath control back and the theater's expecting me. They made a big announcement on their website that I'm coming back, so I really can't back out now."

"I wish we could come," his dad sighs, but Kurt knows he and Carole have already taken too much time off work to care for him while he was in Lima.

He wraps his still a bit stiff arms around his dad's shoulders and makes sure not to hug him too tightly because even eight weeks after the attack, his ribs still hurt when he breathes too deeply or moves too quickly, and the doctor recommended that Kurt continued going to physiotherapy for his arms a few more weeks in New York, but Kurt's just glad that his ankle has healed so well and he's now walking without a limp.

"I'll be careful, I promise."

"And the King?" his dad asks once Kurt lets go of him.

"I'll let you know when I told him," Kurt says because Blaine deserves to be the first one to hear his decision.

He's done a lot of soul searching while he was recovering in his childhood home in Lima to make sure he's making the right decision now. He's learned some Spanish and some French in high school so at least he wouldn't start from nothing if he takes lessons, he's had plenty experience with the paparazzi already and doesn't think they could actually get any worse, he's already had to learn court ceremonial when Blaine was 'just' the Crown Prince, he's had media training and if some day, he'd have his own personal guards, he probably would get used to that too. He's not a fan of the idea of having to consult a stylist before he goes out in public or that he'll never be treated like Blaine's equal because he isn't allowed the title of King consort, but again, he'll probably get used to that. The hardest pill to swallow is that he's supposed to go to church with the King when he's been an atheist since was eight years old and has given the church his father used to go to a wide berth since he had to sit through a sermon on the dangers of homosexuality when he was eleven years old and just figuring himself out. The only compromise he's willing to offer is that he'll come to church with Blaine once they are actually married as long as he doesn't have to become a member of the Church of America again. He also won't stand in the way of their future kids being baptized into the Church because he's pretty sure it's a deal breaker if he vetoes baptism.

He's already on the plane, in business class because people tend to freak out wherever he goes, when he finally takes out his phone to composes a short message to the King.

 _Yes - Kurt._

Then he switches his phone off with plans not to turn it on again till after the show because he doesn't need any distractions before his first performance after a two months break.

* * *

As soon as the plane lands, he and his luggage are picked up by a driver the theater sent for him and when they arrive in midtown, Kurt's jaw drops, because in front of the theater is a massive crowd of fans and reporters, seemingly all waiting for him. The noise is deafening when he stiffly climbs out of the car and slowly walks into the theater, separated from the crowd by barriers and security guards. Before going in, he waves at the crowd shyly, because if he's really going to marry the King of America one day, he needs to start engaging with his fans and aways have a polite smile for them like he's seen Blaine do it even when faced with the nastiest reporters.

Inside the dressing room he still shares with the other guys, there's a banner spelling out 'Welcome back, Kurt' and then he's surrounded by the rest of the cast clapping when he steps into the room.

"Thank you, guys," Kurt says with tears in his eyes, because he's missed his theater family too, and then they step aside and there's Rachel and Jesse, and Dani and Christine and smiling at him awkwardly Santana and her girlfriend Brittany, a pretty blonde dancer his ex-roommate met at cheer camp shortly after she was outed on local TV and they started dating when Brittany followed Santana to New York after her own High School graduation. Kurt gives her a tentative smile as well, because after he nearly died he didn't want to hold on to his grudge any longer. Time was too precious for that. The only one missing is Blaine, but Kurt's not surprised he isn't here since he only texted a few hours ago and Blaine can't just go wherever he wants nowadays, he has to clear it with Palace security first and wait for a security detail to be arranged for him, and that's something else Kurt will have to get used to.

Fortunately, doing the show is like riding a bike and since the theater announced before the show that Kurt won't be able to do any scenes requiring his harness just yet, no one seems disappointed when he doesn't go flying where he usually would before crashing into the a foam pillar.

He beams when after it's over, he receives a standing ovation that he knows has more to do with being back after his attack than his mad acting skill but it warms his insides that so many people seem to care about him. And then there's a loud gasp from someone in the crowd and besides him his cast mates step to the side only to reveal the King, dressed in a beautiful Tom Ford suit, while a dozen of guards enter the theater from the side doors to keep the audience away from the stage. Blaine's flanked by his personal guards, dressed in official royal guard uniforms as well, probably to tell everyone in the theater not to try anything stupid with them around. And in the King's arms is the biggest bouquet of flowers Kurt's ever seen. A mix of roses in all the colors of the rainbow interspersed with lilies, Kurt's mother's favorite flower and violets, which Kurt loves.

"Oh my God, Blaine," Kurt gasps in front of hundreds of cellphone cameras videotaping the moment, his hands clutched together over his heart, forgetting in that moment that he's not supposed to address Blaine by his first name in public, like ever, and then he breaks rule number one too - no PDA in public - when he throws his arms around the King and kisses him full on the lips.

He barely notices Sam, Puck, Ryder and Jake forming a protective circle around them to give them some semblance of privacy, because Blaine's not supposed to act like this in public, it's unbecoming for a King, and Blaine seems to remember that too and pulls back from Kurt way too soon.

"Later, okay," he whispers while the audience cheers, claps and stomps their feet. "For now, just know that I'm yours and I don't care who knows it."

* * *

 _Breaking News: King Blaine reunites with actor Kurt Hummel, who was brutally attacked two months ago by three men currently awaiting trial. The King surprised Mr. Hummel after a performance of 'Peter Pan Goes Wrong' at the Midtown Players Theater in which Mr. Hummel plays the titular character. Today marked Mr. Hummel's return to the stage after recovering from severe injuries that landed him in intensive care at Brooklyn Hospital where King Blaine visited him daily until Mr. Hummel's release six weeks ago. Audience members cheered when the King presented Mr. Hummel with a bouquet of flowers and what followed may have traditionalists clutch at their pearls, but to everyone else it was probably the most romantic scene we've ever gotten from a member of the royal family. Mr. Hummel, clearly overwhelmed, called the King by his given name before the couple exchanged a passionate kiss, before the King's guards intervened and hid the King and Mr. Hummel behind them. While we don't expect wedding bells before King Blaine's coronation in early September, no one here at Good Night New York would be surprised if the Palace announced King Blaine's engagement to Mr. Hummel within the year._


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **4 Months Later**

"Your Majesty, I would like to remind you that it is not proper for your partner to sit front row at your coronation when those spaces are reserved for foreign monarchs, the royal family and members of the government," the archbishop says with a sour expression on his face.

The bishops have taken to referring to Kurt as Blaine's partner, apparently a less offensive term for them than boyfriend for some reason.

Blaine's being fitted for his ceremonial robes when the archbishop arrives at the Palace, who has come to finalize Blaine's coronation ceremony. It meant fighting an uphill battle from the start, since the Church was reluctant to crown an openly gay King who dared to make a spectacle of himself and the Crown when he publicly reunited with his partner in a way unacceptable for a King of any Kingdom, but especially the King of America. Blaine had smiled through all the lectures - the one from Sue, the one from his mother, the one from the Prime Minister and the one from the archbishop, because Kurt was his boyfriend again and nothing else mattered then.

"I'm sorry,Your Eminence, but this is non negotiable. Especially since I know that you wouldn't object if I was in a longterm, committed relationship with a woman. Unless I mess up badly, he will be my husband one day and raising the future heirs to the throne with me, so he will be given the proper respect his relationship with me awards him and he will be seated with my family. It's already been arranged with the coronation planner. Queen Ruth, Queen Cathryn and the Crown Princess will be on my mother's left side and Cooper, his children, his wife and Kurt will be sitting on her right side. He will be treated like a member of the royal family throughout the ceremony and that's non negotiable."

Blaine looks up at a knock on the door but when Kurt sees who he's with he bows curtly in the archbishop's direction and backs away quickly, but the archbishop stops him.

"Come in, Mr. Hummel. Since His Majesty insists that you attend the coronation I may as well give you the proper instructions."

"Of course, Your Eminence," Kurt says stiffly, because it's a recurring theme in the blogs and the newspaper opinion columns that Kurt doesn't show the Church the proper respect it deserves by refusing to attend Church with the King.

"Are you prepared to kneel in front of your King and swear your fealty to him?"

Blaine bites his lip so he doesn't accidentally blurt out that Kurt has plenty of experience kneeling for his King.

"Of course I am."

"You will not be allowed into the chamber when I anoint His Majesty with holy oil since you don't carry the title of King consort and neither will you be anointed yourself since your are not of royal blood. You will return to your seat after your oath and will remain there until the end of the ceremony. However, you will be permitted to wear a sash in the colors of the royal family, because we do not want to draw more attention to you than absolutely necessary and everyone else in the front rows will wear one. Only His Majesty will receive a crown during the ceremony since the Church does not view your relationship with His Majesty as a God sanctioned union that deserves the Church's blessing. The Duke of Virginia won't be allowed to wear a crown either," the archbishop turns back to Blaine who nods because he and Cooper had both expected it.

"Is there anything else Your Eminence would like me to know?" Kurt asks politely, because he knows what's expected of him by now. "I only wanted to let His Majesty know that we need to leave soon if we don't want to be late for a charity engagement."

"Tell me, Mr. Hummel. Do you live at the Palace? You seem very much at home here."

It's clear that the idea of Blaine living at the Palace with his partner is disturbing to him.

"I live in Brooklyn, Your Eminence," Kurt replies, his mask in place and not even Blaine can tell if he'd like to strangle or punch the archbishop first. "But Miss Sylvester thought it best if His Majesty and I arrived together for publicity reasons. I can assure you that left to my own devices, I would not know my way around the Palace, since I've only been here a few times."

"I see," the archbishop says icily before he bows to Blaine and shuffles out of the room with not another glance at Kurt.

Blaine dismisses the tailor too, who frees him from his ceremonial robes, and walks backwards out of the room, the robes clutched to his chest.

"Uh, Kurt, we don't have to leave for another hour," Blaine says once they are blessedly alone and Kurt smirks.

"I know, but I can't stand that guy. I know I'll never be more than the man the King's with - he doesn't have to rub it in that he thinks I'm beneath you."

"You'll never be beneath me - unless we're having sex then I don't mind you beneath me," he adds with a cheeky grin that predictably turns Kurt's cheeks bright red especially when Sam clears his throat outside the door, reminding him that they are in fact not completely alone.

Kurt hits him playfully and Blaine leans in to whisper 'sorry' into his ear because Kurt's never gotten over his aversion to having sex when the guards are around - who are always around. Luckily Cooper's vacated Richmond House at the beginning of the summer which is where they meet now. It's too risky for Blaine to go to Brooklyn since his motorcade would give Kurt's address away in seconds and Kurt's not supposed to spend nights at the Palace since he's 'only' the boyfriend.

Kurt still hasn't met his mother, since she refused to come to the party the Palace threw in honor of Cooper's thirties birthday at the beginning of the summer, saying she had no interest in meeting _that woman_ or _that man_ and then muttering under her breath that she'd like to know what she'd done to deserve sons like that. Neither he nor Cooper had minded, instead inviting Sarah's parents and Kurt's family because Cooper wanted to meet his 'future in laws' too. After the 'old folks' and the kids went to bed around midnight, they celebrated with Cooper's friends till the early hours and Kurt got to stay at the Palace since his whole family was there and it would have come across as impolite if only he had been asked to sleep elsewhere.

Blaine gave Kurt free reign over redecorating the King's quarters and told him, 'make it ours'. Only recently, the renovations were finished and when Blaine moved in a few weeks ago, all traces of his parents and Cooper were gone, thanks to new furniture, new wallpaper and modern paintings they picked out together.

He kisses Kurt briefly, mindful of the open door and the guards right outside before they head up to his rooms together so Blaine can change into his suit as well. They're going to an event sponsored by the Trevor Project so at least the crowd will be friendly tonight, not like some of the events they've attended together in the past, like a gala for the Met, where an Earl of Texas had the audacity to ask Blaine if he didn't feel ashamed for bringing _him._

They are never out in public together unless they attend a charity event or a gala because it requires a massive amount of security to even get them into venues because usually there's a large crowd of supporter facing off against protesters who strongly believe Blaine should abdicate the throne for someone more qualified aka not openly gay. As promised months ago, Blaine has hired a private security firm to drive Kurt to and from the theater and accompany him whenever he goes out in public since government refused to allocate funds to the King's boyfriend.

"He can have royal guards when His Majesty marries him," Prime Minister Grey told Blaine point blank and there's nothing Blaine can do, because he needs the permission of the government for anything that costs not only the Crown but also the tax payers money. And extra royal security would require public financing.

When they step out of the car, flanked by royal guards in official uniforms on both sides, the flashes of the cameras are blinding and the noise deafening, but they are both used to it by now since this happens whenever they step out together - the King and his boyfriend still a big story on all the news outlets in the Kingdom and around the world.

His and Kurt's job tonight is to hand over a check to a group home that has specialized in LGBT youths in the foster system and has been trying to open more such group homes in the New York area, a fantastic cause in Blaine's opinion after reading a report that LGBT youths in the foster system are not only more liked not to find foster families, but often have to deal with abuse from their foster brothers and sisters too if they are in regular foster homes. A second check will go to a homeless shelter working hard to get underage gay teens off the streets especially with fall around the corner. Kurt's show has vowed to donate the proceeds of their last performance next week to the Trevor Project as well and Blaine's auctioned off a home video of him and Cooper doing a Duran Duran routine when Blaine was six and Cooper eleven for the cause.

"What's going to happen next for Kurt Hummel?" Chandler Kiel asks, taking advantage of Sue and Emma engaged in conversation with Isabelle Wright from Vogue dot com and ignoring the glares Blaine's guards send in his directions. "My readers at _Royal News_ are dying to know."

So yeah, Blaine didn't get him fired after all.

"I'm sorry, Chandler, but I can't say yet," Kurt smiles at the reporter, one of those saccharine sweet smiles reserved for the press.

"But will we be seeing you at the coronation? The world needs more pictures of your fabulous outfits."

Blaine may have been Chandler's favorite royal once upon a time, but since Kurt entered the lime light, he seemed to have switched allegiances because he barely spares Blaine a glance.

"Again, I'm not at liberty to discuss. You will have to wait and see like everyone else," Kurt winks at the reporter and then Sue strides over and Chandler's gone in a flash, afraid of Sue Sylvester like he should be.

"Don't worry, Sue," Kurt rolls his eyes. "I politely not answered any questions."

Kurt's waiting to hear back from an audition for a Broadway production of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ at the moment. He's had a callback for the role of Puck a few days ago and though Kurt hates the uncertainty, Blaine knows that he's glad he still has to audition and isn't just handed roles because he's sleeping with the King.

"It's another non-singing role, but it's Shakespeare and no one says no if they are invited to audition for a Shakespeare play," Kurt had gushed when he'd gotten the call that the production would like him to audition a few weeks ago and with his show ending it seemed like perfect timing.

They spend another hour at the event after handing over the checks, switching to water after two glasses of champagne because neither of them can be drunk at an event with this much press. Then they go their separate ways, Blaine being driven back to the Palace while Kurt's driver takes him home to Brooklyn. He'd love to have Kurt just move in with him, but it's another compromise to keep the fragile peace with the Church that Kurt won't live in the Palace before they are married which may not be for a few more years since the only timeline they have is that Blaine should be married by thirty, but that won't be for another five years. But he's put his foot down and Kurt will be coming to the Palace after Blaine's coronation next week, where he'll introduce him as his boyfriend to anyone who asks and then Kurt will stay the night since all other guests are invited to stay as well. It's with a smile on his face that he heads upstairs to his new bedroom, because if he gets his way, Kurt will be in his 'royal' bed in less than a week.

* * *

Blaine can't really remember his father's coronation and he didn't pay all that much attention during Cooper's because he knew Kurt was somewhere in the back and they would be going public in a few hours. But even if he had, nothing could have prepared him for his own. Coronations follow old fashioned protocols like the King and royal family being driven to St. Patrick's Cathedral in horse drawn carriages and the King only entering with his family after everyone else has taken their seats. He's wearing cobalt blue robes with a faux ermine collar and the royal crest emblazoned across his chest over a simple black suit, his hair gelled to his head and some make up on his face so it won't look shiny or blotchy on live TV. He's in a carriage with his mother, grandmother and great grandmother all in beautiful gowns under a cobalt blue sash, their silver-golden crowns shimmering in the sunlight filtering into the carriage. Kurt's with Cooper and Cooper's family because this is where the bishops had put their foot down and had told him that Kurt couldn't ride in the same carriage as the King and the King Mother, not when he was simply the 'current partner'.

Fifth Avenue is closed for the occasion and the streets are full with people cheering and clapping when the carriage drives past, many yelling 'long live King Blaine'. Once they arrive in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Blaine has to wait in the carriage until the coronation planner gives him the go ahead and then Blaine steps out of the carriage, the robes feeling heavy around his shoulders as he walks into the church followed by the women of his family and a little further behind, Cooper, Sarah, Lucy, Billy and Kurt.

He kneels down in front of the archbishop and accepts the sign of the cross on his forehead before he takes his seat on the main throne, the smaller one next to it empty and will remain empty until his oldest son or daughter and their spouse will take the throne since Kurt will never be allowed on it, the bishops had made that abundantly clear. But he's here, in the front row with the royal family, looking regal in a light grey suit that looks beautiful against the cobalt blue sash that brings out the blue in his usually blue-green-grey eyes.

And then he has to stop staring because the archbishop begins the ceremony.

"Sirs, I here present unto you, your undoubted King. Wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?"

The call is answered by the Prime Minister, the opposition leader, a representative of the people and the mayor of New York, Arthur Abrams.

Then the archbishop addressed Blaine.

"Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of the United States of America and of the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands and American Samoa according to their respective laws and customs?"

"I solemnly promise so to do," Blaine vows.

"Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgments?"

"I will."

"Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United States the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law? Will you maintain and preserve inviolable the settlement of the Church of America and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in America? And will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of America, and to the Churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?"

It's the most difficult part of the ceremony for him, but he knows what his answer has to be.

"All this I promise to do. The things which I have here before promised, I will perform, and keep. So help me God."

He's next presented with a King James Bible and the bishop of New Jersey announces, "Here is Wisdom; This is the royal Law; These are the lively Oracles of God."

And then he is whisked away to a small side chamber where the archbishop dips his finger into holy oil and draws a cross on Blaine's hands, head and chest before Blaine's allowed to leave the chamber again and has to kneel in front of the throne, also known as the Coronation Chair, while the archbishop recites a prayer. After the prayer, he's allowed to sit back down and his eyes find Kurt's again who seems fascinated by the process. He tunes out for a moment as more prayers are spoken and then the crown which belonged to the Kings in his family for centuries is placed on his head and all the guests cry out in unison three times, "God Save the King". Outside, trumpeters sound a fanfare and church bells ring out across the Kingdom, while a gun salute echoes from the most southern point of Central Park.

The archbishop approaches him and with a frown on his face that only Blaine can see, he speaks the crowning formula.

"God crown you with a crown of glory and righteousness, that having a right faith and manifold fruit of good works, you may obtain the crown of an everlasting kingdom by the gift of him whose kingdom endureth forever."

After, the archbishop and the other bishops are the first to swear their fealty to Blaine and he makes sure his mask is firmly in place when the archbishop kneels down in front of him.

"I, Archbishop Robert Cameron of the United States, will be faithful and true, and faith and truth will bear unto you, our Sovereign Lord King of this Realm and Defender of the Faith, and unto your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God."

Cooper's the first after the clergy and it's so strange because less than a year ago, it was Blaine who swore fealty to King Cooper.

For the next half hour, the Counts and Countesses, Marquesses and Marchionesses, and Barons and Baronesses of the Kingdom kneel before Blaine and swear their fealty and then the rest of Blaine's family follows and Blaine tries not to smile too brightly when Kurt kneels down in front of him.

"I, Kurt Elijah Hummel, do become your liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth will I bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks. So help me God."

Kurt hadn't been happy about the last part of the oath, but it was traditional and if he wanted to be included in this part of the ceremony, he would have to swear the same oath as everyone else and Blaine inclines his head at him when he does. Kurt's a fantastic actor, letting no one in the cathedral see that he's not comfortable with the phrase.

And then Blaine's led out of the cathedral, wearing the Imperial State Crown and holding the scepter with the cross and the orb, his family and foreign monarchs following behind and once outside the crowd begins to sing the national anthem while Blaine climbs back into the carriage and lets out a sigh of relief when he's hidden by the curtain for a moment, before they are pulled open and he waves at his subjects with a large smile on his face.

* * *

"Well, look at that, we were not struck by lightning," Kurt snarks as he follows Cooper and family back into their carriage so they can be driven to the Palace for Blaine's coronation ball. "With the way the archbishop was acting, I thought I would be struck down the moment I crossed the threshold, since I'm the devil's spawn who's corrupted the King according to the Church. Because hey, as far as they knew he was interested in women _until_ he met me."

"Why does that church man not like you? I thought you and uncle Blaine are in love?" Children, bless their innocence, Kurt thinks as he smiles at Lucy, who's wearing a pink dress fit for a princess and a wreath of lilies in her blond hair.

"He's just jealous because he doesn't have someone who loves him. Bishops aren't allowed to have a wife," Cooper explains with a wink in Kurt's direction.

"Poor man," Lucy concludes before she demands to be put on Kurt's lap so she can look out of the carriage window while they slowly move up 5th avenue toward the main entrance to the Palace on 85th street.

Cooper's step kids are lovely, but the thought of having to start a family with Blaine in the next couple of years scares him nonetheless because marriage and kids before he is even thirty has never been his plan. He's been dreaming about Tonys, a nice apartment in Manhattan, walks through Central park on Sunday mornings with his handsome boyfriend who would love scouring the flea markets with him for baubles and trinkets for their shared apartment. Maybe they would adopt a cat at some point and once achieved all his career dreams, they would get married and either adopt or have two kids through surrogacy - one with Kurt's sperm and one with his husband's. But Blaine is expected to be married and start a family by thirty, so he'll have an heir old enough to ascend the throne in case Blaine doesn't make it past sixty either. And that would make Kurt no older than twenty eight, if they don't get married even sooner.

He does not feel ready for any of it at the moment and the fact that they are pretty much forbidden from living together before they are married doesn't help either. Well, at least the Palace is big so they shouldn't get on each other's nerves because they have to share cramped living spaces. He even has his own bedroom in the King's quarters since it was customary for the King and Queen to have separate bedrooms when the Palace was build in 1789. Not that he plans to ever use it, unless maybe one of them has the flu and the other can't get sick as well. Blaine has promised him access to the kitchen even though the Palace employs a permanent chef and kitchen staff who will prepare all meals for the royal family unless Kurt insists on cooking for them instead - but since Kurt's more of a baker than a cook, he's sure he and Chef Tim will come to an arrangement when Kurt moves in a few years down the line. For now, he's still happy in Brooklyn with Dani, with his beefed up security ensuring that he gets home safe and undetected by paparazzi every night - not that he's out much at the moment since _Peter Pan_ has ended and rehearsals for _A Midsummer night's dream_ haven't started yet.

He's startled out of his revelry, when loud cheering erupts all around them and a look through the window tells him they have reached the main gates of the Palace where thousands of people are waiting to catch a glimpse of the now crowned King, and apparently Kurt as well judging by the signs some of them are holding into the air. Kurt's never entered the Palace through the main doors before, because they are usually only open for special occasions like a coronation and Kurt wishes it wouldn't be tacky if he took out his cellphone to take a picture of Blaine striding up the wide staircase, his ceremonial robes flowing out behind him and the crown on his head shimmering in the light falling through the open doorway. He looks like he was born to be a King - like this was inevitable and sooner or later it would always have been Blaine on the throne.

Kurt has to stay behind with Sara, Lucy and Billy as the immediate royal family steps out onto the balcony so Blaine can greet his subjects, now His Majesty the King by the Grace of God. The phrase makes him roll his eyes, but he knew when he said yes to Blaine that being with the King would mean having to accept organized religion as part of his life since Blaine is the head of the Church of America whether the clergy likes it or not.

He hears Blaine's speech through the open doors separating the hallway from the balcony, in which he reiterates what he said during his press conference a few months ago. His boyfriend wants to be King for everyone in the Kingdom and hopes that he will be judged on merit instead of his love life. He will also reintroduce public audiences, where once a week, one afternoon will be reserved for the people.

"Because I want to hear from you; I want to hear from my people what they think needs to be changed in this Kingdom so we can work together to achieve it," Blaine says out on the balcony.

While Blaine speaks, a long line of black limousines drives through the Palace gates, delivering the Kings and Queens from around the world. And then the crowd cheers and more cries of 'long live the King' fill the air.

"Please follow me to the library," a guard Kurt doesn't know approaches him and Kurt acquiesces.

He only has to wait a few minutes before the large oak double doors open and the royal family walks in. Blaine approaches him and links their fingers to Kurt's surprise before he turns to his family.

"Mother, grandma, great grandma, aunt Sophia, I would like to officially introduce you all to my boyfriend Kurt Hummel because these introductions are long overdue and when we go back out there to meet with the foreign monarchs I want us to appear united as a family. I don't want there to be any talk that my mother does not get along with her daughter-in-law or with my boyfriend and I don't want anyone to know that you've refused to meet him until now," Blaine says in a tone that says 'my decision is final and there won't be any discussion about it'.

"I heard you picked your dress yourself, Your Highness," Kurt addresses Queen Pamela after bowing to her. "I must commend you on your choice. It's a wonderful design."

She wouldn't be the first woman he's won over by complementing her fashion choices.

"Which is not to say that you don't look absolutely lovely as well, your Highnesses," he bows to Queens Ruth and Cathryn and the Crown Princess.

"Well, at least he has manners," Queen Ruth turns to Blaine's mother as if Kurt's not right in front of them, and Blaine's grip on his hand tightens briefly.

"Who's he?" Crown Princess Sophia frowns and points her walking stick at Kurt, but everyone knows about her Alzheimers diagnosis.

"He's Blaine's betrothed," ninety-three year old Queen Cathryn explains loudly.

"But he's a boy," the Crown Princess frowns. "What did I miss?"

"The maid said that's normal now - women marrying women and men marrying men,' the King's great grandmother says with a frown and the Crown Princess shakes her head.

"But who is he?"

"How about I escort you two lovely ladies to the ball room," Cooper intervenes and next to Kurt, Blaine gives his brother a grateful smile.

"Escorted by the King, oh my," Princess Sophia says and Cooper links arms with the two old ladies, leaving Kurt and Blaine with Queens Ruth and Pamela.

"I stand by what I said, Blaine, I don't want him moving in here. It's not right. I did not move in with your father before we married and neither did your grandmother with King Edward. It's bad enough that you have relations with him, but I won't have that at the Palace."

"He has a name, mother," Blaine hisses, losing his composure for a moment.

"Fine," Queen Pamela says through gritted teeth. "Mr. Hummel, we are a family that believes in upholding traditional values and those apply to my son as well, especially since he's been crowned King today. The royal family has to lead by example and it won't if the King lives in sin with his partner at the royal Palace and treats him like he is already part of the family without the sacrament of marriage. Since the law has decided to allow such marriages, I will have to accept it if my son weds you in a civil ceremony, but until you are actually engaged I do not want you at functions reserved for the immediate royal family. And I hope you and my son will respect that."

Kurt gives her a curt nod since he's already agreed to living apart until he and Blaine marry and to be quite honest, Christmas at the Palace doesn't sound like much fun anyway. Maybe he can convince his family to come to New York this year so he can still see Blaine as well, but if he's spared 'family Christmases' at the Palace for another few years he will be the last one to complain.

There's a knock on the door, saving him from further scrutiny from the Queens when Puck announces that His Majesty is expected in the ballroom. To his surprise, Blaine doesn't let go of his hand as they walk down the hallway flanked by guards and followed by Queen Ruth and Queen Pamela, the sound of their heels on marble floor drowning out all other noises.

"Blaine," Blaine's mother stops them in front of the ballroom and Blaine lets go of Kurt's hand so he can be announced.

If they were married already, Kurt would be allowed to go in with him, but they are not so he steps aside so he won't be seen when the doors are opened from the inside.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, His Majesty King Blaine of America," a guard in royal uniform announces and Kurt watches as Blaine strides into the room while the guests applaud.

"Her Royal Highness, Queen Pamela of America."

"Her Royal Highness, Queen Ruth of America."

Sue Sylvester is suddenly by his side, and Kurt waits for her nod before they walk into the ballroom together and to a table by one of the large windows where Sarah and the kids are seated.

"Join the rejects table," Sarah jokes and swipes two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter, because tonight they are allowed to drink since no press is allowed at the ball.

Blaine is talking to Wes who he hired as a junior lawyer a few weeks ago and when he feels Kurt's eyes on him, the two man come over to the table and Kurt shakes Wes' hand in greeting. They met briefly when Kurt returned Wes' _Audi_ last fall and have seen each other a few times since.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to people," Blaine says and Kurt hopes his hands aren't shaking or sweaty when Blaine leads him over to where the Queen of Canada is standing with her husband.

"Votre Majesté, puis-je présenter mon petit copain, Kurt Hummel," Blaine introduces him and Kurt curtsies before he kisses the back of the offered hand.

"Enchanté de faire Votre connaissance," Kurt says politely, only stumbling over the words a bit and the Queen gives him a polite smile before talking to Blaine in rapid French.

It doesn't sound like the French he's learning, but his tutor is from France and apparently there's some difference between European French and Canadian French, just like with Spanish.

And speaking of Spanish, with a hand on the small of his back, Blaine guides him through the room until they reach the King of Mexico, a kind looking older man. Kurt knows that his wife, Queen Maribel, has passed away recently because Blaine flew down to Mexico City for the funeral at the beginning of the summer.

"Su Majestad, le presento mi novio Kurt Hummel."

Kurt bows and repeats what he told Queen Amelie in halting Spanish.

Blaine introduces him to the Queen of France, the King of Italy, Prince Carlos of Spain - who if Kurt understand it correctly thanks Blaine for introducing him to Lady Charlotte - and many more monarchs from Europe, all in their native tongues, before the meet the Chinese ambassador and Blaine keeps impressing him with his mad language skill.

"Wǒ kěyǐ jièshào wǒ de nán péngyǒu Kurt Hummel" (我可以介紹我的男朋友Kurt Hummel)

To Kurt he may as well - pun very much intended - be speaking Chinese because he doesn't understand a word.

The ambassador smiles politely but Kurt can tell he's only courteous because Blaine's the King and it could cause an international incident were he not.

"Will you dance with me?" Blaine asks when a string quartet starts to play and Kurt looks around the room at all the Kings and Queens and Princes and Princesses.

"Here, in front of everyone?"

"Where else? You are exactly where you are supposed to be - by my side and no matter what anyone thinks, I'm not going to hide you away any longer. They crowned me King and there's little we can do now that would cost me the throne. So Mr. Hummel of Ohio, will you do me the honor?"

* * *

It's in all the papers the next morning, the King, wearing his royal robes, twirling his boyfriend around the dance floor, a bright and happy smile spread across his face.

When asked why he released such a private photo, the Duke of Virginia stated. "I just wanted everyone else in the Kingdom to see what I see when I look at my brother and Kurt - I wanted everyone to see how in love they are and how nothing else mattered."

* * *

Coronation text is pretty much word for word from Queen Elisabeth II's coronation.  
The Chinese comes from google translate, so I hope it says what I wanted it to say ;)  
I will take this week to write the epilogue and reply to all your nice comments, and then you should get the final chapter for Christmas :)


	15. Epilogue

**AN:** Sorry for the wait - I was a bit busier before and after Christmas than I had anticipated. I should have a bit more free time the coming week and then I'll finally reply to comments. Enjoy this monster of an epilogue

 **Epilogue**

 **May 2020**

 _By Order of The Crown of America, The Royal Family of Virginia_

 _The Palace announces that His Majesty King Blaine Devon James of Virginia has become engaged to Mr. Kurt Elijah Hummel of Lima, Ohio. The nuptials will take in the Palace Rose Gardens on September 5th in the presence of family and friends of the couple. For press accreditation for the royal wedding please contact press secretary Emma Pillsbury. Be advised though that His Majesty and his fiancé plan an intimate ceremony so only a limited number of press will be admitted._

"It sounds so impersonal when you read it like this," Kurt frowns, his head resting on Blaine's naked chest as he reads their announcement on his iPad, his engagement ring catching the rays of light making their way through the cracks in the hastily drawn curtains. After Blaine's proposal the previous night, they'd stumbled into bed together, drunk on love and expensive champagne. He'd come home to his Upper Westside apartment after another grueling rehearsal for his newest show, a new musical about a young man who returns home for the funeral of his childhood best friend for the first time in ten years after having run away from home at age 16, which leads to dealing with a past he'd thought he'd left behind a long time ago. Blaine was there, the dinning room table lit with candles and laden with an assortment of sushi from Kurt's favorite Japanese restaurant. Blaine's guards were outside his front door and in the guest room, so they had the illusion of being alone, and when the King went down on one knee after a delicious dinner, Kurt had cried 'yes' before Blaine had even asked the question. Luckily, Blaine was asking to marry him and moments later, a beautiful silver ring was on his finger and the King popped a bottle of champagne. They celebrated their engagement then and there with plenty of champagne after Blaine texted Sue and Emma that Kurt had said yes and that the Palace could release their engagement announcement.

That night, Kurt didn't care that they were loud and that Blaine's guards could probably hear them while he rode the King's dick, his bed squeaking and their moans producing a cacophony of sound in Kurt's small bedroom. He'd come with Blaine's name on his lips and the King had chanted his like a prayer before he had followed. Kurt had the presence of mind to clean them up with a wet washcloth before they went to sleep, so this morning they can just relax in bed and watch the internet explode without having to leave the bed because they are sticky and disgusting.

"Since our wedding will be televised it can't be too intimate either," Blaine apologizes, but Kurt knows this. After all, he's been dating Blaine for nearly four year now - one year with the Crown Prince and three years with the King.

"I know, I know. No personalized wedding vows, no exuberant kissing and no crying if at all possible," he recites Sue's instructions.

He's got a long list of dos and don'ts for all parts of his life including future engagement, wedding and children - like he'll get one personal guard when he's married, but if he'll be out with Blaine's children he'll get extra security. But only with children that are biologically Blaine's. If they have a child that's biologically Kurt's, he won't get extra security because that child isn't a potential heir. Blaine's been working on a law that would style Cooper's children Lady and Lord and would award the same title to Kurt's child if he can get parliament on board which is unlikely at the moment though since Prime Minister Grey was reelected in 2017 for another four years.

"If you'd like, we could exchange our own vows in private after the ceremony," Blaine suggests and Kurt lifts his head from the King's chest to kiss him softly.

"I'd love that."

He knows that the wedding will be planned by a wedding planner who has experience with royal weddings even though theirs will be quite different since it will be the first official royal wedding not taking place at St. Patrick's Cathedral. They are only getting married civilly since the bishops are refusing to make an exception for the King and marry them in Church because they don't want to set a precedent and a church wedding would entitle Kurt to a royal title. Kurt doesn't need a title, but it would put him on more equal footing with Blaine if he got styled Earl which is customary for non titled men properly marrying into the immediate royal family.

So they will be married in the Palace Gardens instead of St. Patrick's Cathedral, by a justice of the peace instead of by the archbishop, which Kurt doesn't mind at all, because they attended the church wedding of Sam and Mercedes the previous year and all the prayers and promises to the church weren't his cup of tea anyway. He'd have done it for Blaine if they could have had a 'proper' royal wedding because perception is important to Blaine and Kurt knows he's not 100% happy about not getting married in Church.

A trade agreement with Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, which had been ready to be signed when Blaine took the throne, had been abruptly withdrawn and many middle Eastern Kingdoms had withdrawn their ambassadors in protest after the videos of Kurt and Blaine kissing on stage ended up on the evening news. On the upside, Blaine had bolstered relationships with European nations weary of America because of its conservatism and it's clinging to capital punishment which had been abolished in all European King- and Queendoms in the last century. Blaine hadn't been able to abolish the death penalty yet because he didn't have enough support in parliament, but many foreign kingdoms saw an openly gay man as the reigning monarch of America as a sign that the United States were becoming more liberal and would place greater emphasis on civil rights for all its citizens and commit less human rights violations than under King Richard and his predecessors.

They stay in bed till noon and after another round of celebratory sex in the shower, Liam drives them upstate so they can go riding together at the club which has become their Sunday tradition. For Kurt's twenty-fifth birthday the previous year, Blaine had surprised him with a beautiful chestnut Hanoverian named Allegro so he wouldn't have to ride the school horses anymore. Since he could only ride Allegro once a week himself, he had arranged it with a center for troubled youths in the neighboring village that during the week, the teenagers could come to the club where they would learn how to care for and ride Allegro.

But Sundays are reserved for Kurt and the King, Blaine riding his black Arabian Calypso followed by Puck and Sam on horses, and Jake and Ryder on foot, walking Blaine's Golden Retrievers Harry and Sally. Kurt's not exactly a dog person but when Blaine called him all excited about a year ago about the two Golden Retriever puppies up for sale, he couldn't say no, especially because he was touched that Blaine asked him first since the dogs would be living in the Palace and Kurt wouldn't have much interaction with them until he moved in in the distant future.

"We'll get you a cat once you've moved in, one of those short hair breeds, and then we'll just have to teach it to stay away from the historic furniture," Blaine had said after Kurt told him to buy the puppies.

Remembering the conversation, he turns to Blaine, very comfortable in the saddle after four years on horseback.

"Am I still getting that cat, when I move in? Because nothing against Harry and Sally but I want a pet I can cuddle with when my husband is busy ruling the Kingdom," he says with a grin as his mouth forms the word husband.

"You can have as many cats as you like Kurt," Blaine smiles back at him. "All I care about is that soon we will finally be allowed to live together."

Kurt moved to his own apartment the previous year after his Broadway run as 'Puck' was followed by a short stint on a musical comedy about a group of Juilliard students. The show was short lived - cancelled after only one season - but Kurt's performance was routinely praised and it earned him enough money so he could rent a small two bedroom apartment in Manhattan in a building with a doorman. Blaine spent the night from time to time after another resident posted Kurt's address on Twitter - and was promptly asked to move out by building management - since the paparazzi already knew where he lived anyway. Since every time Blaine spends the night, an article about it appears in the papers, he's really looking forward to living with the King. Obviously not just because of the press, but not having the media report on them every time they spend the night together will be a huge plus.

"Race you back," Blaine challenges when the sun sets in the distance and Kurt leans forward in his saddle because he knows what it does to Blaine when he wins. It's probably why he wins so many races, when Kurt's been riding for four years and Blaine since he was four years old.

 **September 2020**

"Nervous?" his dad asks when Kurt reties his bowtie again. Since Blaine is going to wear his royal uniform, Kurt has opted for a traditional black suit, white dress shirt and black bowtie. He kicked out his stylist a few minutes earlier when he insisted the tie was already perfect because it clearly isn't.

"No, Dad, why would I be nervous? I'm only marrying the King of one of the most important countries in the world," Kurt snarks, his hands shaking as he tries to tie the stupid thing again.

When his dad pushes his hands away, Kurt doesn't fight him and lets his dad tie his tie.

"You've been with him four years, have accompanied him to events for three and survived his family when he took you to his great grandmother's funeral in March."

"That was all Queen Ruth. Apparently, I won her over when I stood up to Blaine's mom when she said I couldn't see him during the Christmas holidays. The way Blaine tells it, his grandma doesn't like his mom very much, because she thinks her only son could have made a better match."

"But you're a commoner too," his dad points out.

"It's not about that," Kurt grins, feeling much better already now that his dad's distracting him. "He could have married a beggar if it was a beggar with personality," he imitates Queen Ruth causing his dad to burst out laughing.

"And so the cycles continues. Blaine's mother doesn't get along with her mother-in-law and you and Sarah don't get along with yours."

"That's not our fault," Kurt protests. "It's not Sarah's fault that she's not a rich princess and it's not my fault I'm neither rich nor a princess."

"Yeah, like I said, the cycle continues - she thinks you aren't good enough for her sons - which is absolute bullshit if you ask me."

"Dad, language," Kurt admonishes automatically because you never know who might be listening and he doesn't need in article in the papers about the King's blue collar father-in-law who swears like a sailor.

His family made the papers after the royal engagement was announced, interest in his dad and Carole skyrocketing once if became clear that Kurt was actually going to marry the King. When Crown Prince Richard had married Pamela Anderson, he'd married the sole heiress of a steel empire, but King Blaine's future father-in-law is only a mechanic. Or at least, that's how the papers depict Burt Hummel, the fact that Kurt's dad has his own business and was involved in local politics until recently, usually only a footnote. But the media has been nicer to Kurt since a reporter wrote an article about the poor boy who lost his mom when he was still so young and had to practically raise himself because his father spent all his time with cars. Usually, unless it's actual lies the press is reporting, Kurt just lets them do their thing and doesn't comment, but when an overzealous reporter hunted down the family of the woman who had hit his mother's car and tried to get her daughter, who goes to college in New York now, to agree to an interview, Kurt drew a line and called Santana.

Santana works at a PR company that Sue recommended when she told Kurt to get his own people because she didn't want there to be a conflict of interest when what was best for the King wasn't necessarily best for Kurt, and she worked for the Palace first and foremost. He and Santana had made up after his brush with death and so he didn't protest when the firm assigned Santana to do Kurt's PR. Who is fantastic at her job. When Kurt's show tanked, she got a quote from one of the studio execs, unwittingly going on record saying they would have pulled the plug after the first couple of episodes if Kurt's performance hadn't been so highly praised and he hadn't had such a vocal fanbase. Kurt hadn't been too sad when the show was cancelled because the premise of the show and the pilot script had been so much better than the storylines his character got from the second episode onward. The producers had lured him in with talks of a strong gay character who wouldn't be just a glorified sidekick and who would have interesting storylines which wouldn't just focus on his character's sexuality. The pilot script had seemed to deliver on those promises and he had signed on after successful screen tests in front of studio executives and multiple auditions. It all went downhill after the first episode, but Santana made sure that if people talked about the show, they talked about how talented Kurt was and how he was doing such a good job with the material he was given.

"Yes, sir," Burt jokes and steps back to inspect his handiwork.

The bowtie is a little crooked, but Kurt leaves it as it is because his dad tied it for him and that counts for more than having a perfectly tied bowtie on his wedding day.

It's a beautiful day in early September. With an expected high in the low nineties, Kurt's grateful for the gazebo set up in the rose garden under which he and Blaine will be married by the mayor of New York, Arthur - please call me Artie - Abrams in less than thirty minutes. He is getting dressed in the east wing of the Palace, his room - Cooper and Blaine's playroom growing up - overlooking the garden and Kurt watches as the rows upon rows of white chairs decorated with bows in cobalt blue start to fill with their guests and the media.

The camera team filming the ceremony had done a run through the previous day with two stand ins while Kurt had watched from the window, thinking, 'I wish we could do that' when the two men under the gazebo kissed passionately.

The front rows are reserved for family and friends, the royal family and Blaine's friends on the right and Kurt's family and friends on the left, then members of parliament and Prime Minister Grey - albeit reluctantly - and the reigning monarchs of Mexico and Canada and France, England, Italy and Spain before members of staff they both view as part of their family, like Sue and Emma, Puck and his girlfriend Doctor Fabray, Sam and Mercedes, Mike and Matt and Jake and Ryder. And then there are the reporters and photographers in addition to the film team broadcasting their wedding live to every household in the country that wants to see it. Emma's admitted fifty reporters from respected American newspapers and fifty from publications from around the world with good credentials. Kurt's seen the press accreditations and even Chandler Kiel has someone managed to get on the list. With a guest list of five hundred - including press - his wedding isn't what he would consider intimate and small but apparently in terms of royal weddings, it's super intimate because they are _only_ admitting five hundred people. Five hundred people who have to go through security to even get onto Palace grounds, but their wedding obviously is a high risk event and Kurt does feel better knowing that there's no chance of violent rightwing homophobes getting anywhere near him and Blaine. There's nothing they can do about the 'pro family' protesters that show up at every event they attend together, but during his wedding, he does not want to hear people scream that he's an abomination and will rot in hell together with the King. He's learned to ignore the urge to shout back and show them the error of their ways, but sometimes it is hard to bite his tongue and just keep smiling for the cameras. He had perfected his show smile while he was on TV because with the material he had been given all he could do was fake smile when he had to promote the show.

A knock on the door startles him out of his revelry and Kate, the assistant wedding planner, pokes her head through the door.

"Ready to head downstairs, Kurt? Elliott and Wes are already in place."

Kurt steps in front of the large mirror one last time and spins for the stylist who came back in with Kate. He's wearing a small amount of makeup for the cameras but unlike Blaine, he's used to it since he wears makeup almost daily. When everyone is satisfied with his appearance, Kurt and his dad follow Kate and Kurt's new personal guard Lauren Zizzes downstairs. Kurt's asked for a guard you wouldn't immediately finger as a guard and what's even better - he and Zizzes get along splendidly. Apparently, she briefly dated Puck a few years ago when they both started their training, but she had dumped him because he wasn't man enough for her. She's shown him pictures of her current boyfriend and Kurt's eyebrows had shot up because the man looks like he could benchpress a car.

The members of his wedding party, Rachel, Santana and Dani are waiting in a sitting room closest to the rose garden with Kurt's best man Elliott, Blaine's best man Wes and Blaine's groomsmen David, Nick and Jeff. They have decided that he and Blaine will walk down the aisle together, Kurt escorted by his dad and Blaine by Cooper and Kurt's eyes light up when the doors behind him are opened again and Blaine and Cooper step into the room, both looking incredibly handsome in their royal uniforms. With Cooper is his ten year old step-daughter Lucy wearing a beautiful creme colored dress. Thirteen year old Billy decided he is too old to be their ring bearer but Lucy is very excited to be a flower girl again, swinging her basket containing the rose petals in her right hand.

"We are ready," Joel, the wedding planner, comes in through the doors leading out into the gardens. "The Queens and Mrs. Hummel Hudson are seated and the string quartet will begin playing as soon as I give them the go ahead. Everyone ready in here too?"

As I'll ever be, Kurt thinks while he nods.

And then Joel leaves and moments later the opening notes of Pachelbel's Canon float through the open door and Lucy is the first to walk outside to scatter her pedals down the aisle. Rachel and David, Santana and Jeff and Dani and Nick follow before Elliott and Wes walk down the aisle together. And then it's just Kurt, his dad, Blaine and Cooper that are left and Blaine mouthes 'I love You' at him before they too step outside onto a small terrace. Stairs are leading down into the garden from both sides of the terrace and while Kurt and his dad take the left, Blaine and Cooper take the right, all reuniting on the cobalt blue carpet that marks their aisle.

Mayor Abrams is already under the large wooden gazebo, a wedding present from a famous New York sculptor, flanked left and right by the groomsmen and maids. His dad hugs him tightly before Kurt links hands with Blaine and takes the few steps up into the gazebo together with his future husband before coming to rest next to their wedding parties facing each other.

"Welcome," Artie Abrams greets the guests. "As mayor of the great city of New York it is my honor to officiate the wedding of Kurt Hummel and His Majesty King Blaine today in this beautiful rose garden which was commissioned nearly two hundred years ago by Queen Rosalinde, the wife of one of King Blaine's ancestors, King Francis. I would also like to welcome Queen Amelie of Canada and King Antonio of Mexico who are here today as special guests of His Majesty. Welcome to all the visitors who have flown in from Europe to be part of Kurt and King Blaine's special day. My wife and I have met the happy couple a few years ago at a fundraiser Kathrine had organized and on the way home she turned to me and said, 'I'd be surprised if they didn't marry within five years. They seem to be so in love.' We came to know them as charitable and kind people who were trying to make a relationship work against all odds and I am very happy to be here today to celebrate how far they have come as a couple. Before we move on to the vows and the exchanging of the rings, His Majesty has asked that I read this excerpt from Plato's Symposium. So I will.

 _Love is our best friend, our helper, and the healer of the ills that prevent us from being_

 _happy._

 _To understand the power of love, we must understand that our original human nature was_

 _not like it is now, but different. Human beings each had two sets of arms, two sets of legs,_

 _and two faces looking in opposite directions. There were three sexes then: one comprised_

 _of two men called the children of the Sun, one made of two women called the children of_

 _the Earth, and a third made of a man and a woman, called the children of the Moon. Due_

 _to the power and might of these original humans, the Gods began to_

 _fear that their reign might be threatened. They sought for a way to end the humans' insolence without destroying them._

 _It was at this point that Zeus divided the humans in half. Each of us when separated,_

 _having one side only, is but the indenture of a person, and we are always looking for our_

 _other half. Those whose original nature lies with the children of the Sun are men who are_

 _drawn to other men, those from the children of the Earth are women who love other_

 _women, and those from the children of the Moon are men and women drawn to one_

 _another. And when one of us meets our other half, we are lost in an amazement of love_

 _and friendship and intimacy, and would not be out of the other's sight even for a moment._

 _We pass our whole lives together, desiring that we should be melted into one, to spend_

 _our lives as one person instead of two, and so that after our death there will be one_

 _departed soul instead of two; this is the very expression of our ancient need. And the_

 _reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and_

 _pursuit of the whole is called Love._

"For Kurt and King Blaine, it began with a chance encounter. It could have been a fleeting moment, but fate had other plans and thrust them back together just when they were about to part ways, possibly for good. Fate seemed to know they were each other's missing halves and brought them back together whenever things got hard, and I assume - not having had the experience myself - that it isn't always easy to date a King."

Kurt laughs along with the non royal guests because all those trials and tribulations they have faced as a couple seem insignificant now that he's about to be married. He's also not surprised that Blaine has chosen this reading because while Blaine doesn't believe in the God the church teaches about, his fiancé believes in fate; believes that there's a reason why things happen. That's why he was never as mad at Santana as Kurt was, because Blaine believed there was a reason why he'd met Kurt and by extension Santana that night.

"But they persevered and are here today to share their love with all of you and to become a family in the eyes of the law. So lets get the formalities out of the way, shall we? Are you Kurt Elijah Hummel free, lawfully, to marry His Majesty King Blaine Devon James of Virginia."

Kurt takes a step closer to Blaine so they can hold hands.

"I am."

"And is His Majesty King Blaine Devon James of Virginia free, lawfully, to marry Mr. Kurt Elijah Hummel?"

"I am," Blaine smiles at him like Kurt's his sun and his moon and his stars.

With a nod from Mayor Abrams Kurt accepts Blaine's ring from Elliott and holds Blaine's right hand with his as he says his wedding vows.

"I, Kurt Elijah Hummel, take you, Blaine Devon James of Virginia, to be my wedded husband. I give you this ring as a sign of our love, trust and marriage. I promise to care for you above all others, to give you my love, friendship and support, and to respect and cherish you throughout our life together."

It's hard not to lean in and kiss Blaine as he slides the ring on his ring finger. Then Blaine takes Kurt's ring from Wes and holds Kurt's hand.

"I, Blaine Devon James of Virginia, take you, Kurt Elijah Hummel, to be my wedded husband. I give you this ring as a sign of our love, trust and marriage. I promise to care for you above all others, to give you my love, friendship and support, and to respect and cherish you throughout our life together."

"Then by the power vested in me by the state of New York, I pronounce His Majesty King Blaine and Mr. Kurt Hummel legally married in the eyes of the law."

He and Blaine step forward to sign their marriage certificate followed by their witnesses Elliott and Wes and then just like that they are married.

They have a short honeymoon in Paris planned, since Kurt's never been and Queen Michelle had extended an invitation to them to stay at Versailles with the Queen and her husband when they come to France. While they are gone, Kurt's belongings will be moved to the Palace, his lease expiring at the end of the months, and once they are back, he and Blaine will start their life together at the Palace.

They don't kiss after Mayor Abrams' pronouncement since it's tradition that the newly married royal couple shares it's first kiss on the balcony of the Palace that looks out onto 85th street where all of Blaine's subjects who've come out to see them can witness it. It will be the first time Kurt's allowed onto the balcony and he dares a glance at Queen Pamela. Mindful of the cameras, she's smiling at them, looking to everyone else like a mother who's incredibly happy for her son. Kurt hasn't been offered yet to call her by her first name unlike Queen Ruth who told him at her mother's funeral to call her Ruth because he was basically family already. But Blaine's mother he still has to address as Your Highness and it would very much surprise him if that changes anytime soon since she still insists on calling him Mr. Hummel.

Instead of a kiss, Blaine squeezes his hand briefly, a wide smile on his face, and Kurt's sure he's wearing an identical one, he's smiling so brightly.

They pose for pictures next: one with Mayor Abrams, one with just Lucy, one with Cooper's whole family, one with Kurt's dad, one with Kurt's dad and Carole, one with Kurt's extended family, one with Queen Pamela, one with Blaine's extended family and one of Kurt, Blaine and both their families on the terrace above the rose garden. Then Kurt and Blaine are whisked away through the Palace for their first appearance in public as a married couple and as soon as they are inside and out of sight, Blaine stops them, tells Joel to give them a moment and then he dips Kurt only to follow him down for a truly epic kiss that has Kurt gasping for air when Blaine pulls him upright again.

"I couldn't wait," Blaine rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, a gesture Kurt's very familiar with these days, happening whenever Blaine forgets himself for a moment before he realizes he's not acting very 'kingly' as Kurt likes to call it.

Well, Kurt can't have that and he links his hands with Blaine's, rubbing his thumb over Blaine's wedding band as he leans in for a soft kiss.

"I'm glad you didn't."

Unfortunately, Joel clears his throat then because everyone's waiting for them and Kurt reluctantly disentangles himself from his husband. Zizzes, who's following behind with a pair of guards for Blaine's protection Kurt doesn't know, gives him a thumbs up and Kurt blushes predictably.

It's only thanks to his experiences on stage that he doesn't freak out when they are outside the balcony and can hear the cheering from the crowd outside.

"His Majesty King Blaine and husband Mr. Kurt Hummel," they are announced and when they step outside, the noise is deafening.

If there are any protesters, their fans drown them out and Kurt copies Blaine when he waves at the crowd before Blaine puts his left hand on Kurt's cheek, the ring cool against it, and leans in for a short and chaste kiss, much too short for Kurt's taste, but the no PDA rule in public still applies even though they are married now and after this short wedding kiss they're not supposed to do it again in public - or depending on who you asked, at all.

By the time they get back into the rose garden, the chairs have been cleared away and were exchanged for tables set for a formal dinner and Kurt finds his dad in conversation with Queen Ruth of all people, while Blaine's mom observes them with a sour expression on her face. The press had to leave after the ceremony but Kurt thinks she should at least pretend to be happy for them while they still have company.

"Kurt, I was just asking your father if he knew a place where I could get a 1947 Rolls Royce fixed."

His dad looks decidedly out of place in his three piece suit and without his ever present baseball cap talking to the King's grandmother who was a Princess of Mississippi before her marriage to King Edward.

"I'm sure he'd like to have a go at it himself if you let him," Kurt winks and his dad actually blushes.

"Yes Your Majesty," Burt says, apparently having forgotten everything that Kurt taught him about titles, because there's only one majesty and that's Kurt's husband.

"Call me Ruth," the Queen offers. "We're all family now."

Carole's with Cooper's family, gushing over Lucy's dress who's preening under the attention and as much as Kurt would like to join them, he knows that the proper thing to do is to go and talk to his mother-in-law first.

"Your Highness," he says politely when he and Blaine reach her and Blaine's mom accepts a glass of champagne Blaine's brought over for her.

"Kurt," she says curtly probably since they are in close proximity to Queen Amelie who called Kurt by his first name when he and Blaine greeted her on the way over. "That was different than what I expected. Very short."

"We were advised to keep it short and not too personal since it was televised."

"That sounds like sensible advice. I remember what a nuisance the cameras were during my wedding to your father," Queen Pamela says, forgetting for a moment that they don't do this - talk like normal people. "How was I supposed to enjoy it if I had to be mindful of the way I looked every moment of it."

"You'll learn to ignore the cameras if you're faced with them as much as I am. That was the biggest adjustment for me when I moved from theater to TV - learning to ignore the cameras," Kurt says.

"Yes, I heard your TV program was cancelled. I'm sorry." If she is, she doesn't sound too sorry.

"Actually, I was quite relieved when it was cancelled. I wasn't too happy on the show and had been asked if I wanted to workshop a new musical."

"So you plan to keep doing it even now? Blaine will need to have an heir soon."

Kurt stops himself before he quips that work won't be a problem because he won't actually get pregnant.

"We figured we'll cross that bridge when our first child is born. My show is premiering in a few weeks, so I can perform in it for a least a year before I'll take time off for our child."

"Have you already started the process?" Queen Ruth joins them. "My maid looked up how it works on the Internet."

Blaine shares a look with him. They have started the process in the sense of tasking an agency with finding an egg donor that looks like she could be Kurt's sister because Blaine wants their child to look like it's related to both of them. But they haven't actually made plans yet when to have their first child. Their only timeline is some time in the next two years once they've found an egg donor for the two children they plan to have with Blaine's sperm.

"We've talked to an agency that is known for its discretion. They handled a lot of celebrity surrogacies in the last few years so I'm sure they'll find the right surrogate for us as well," Blaine tells his grandmother what they are willing to share with people at the moment.

They have another appointment with the agency director, a Paris Geller, when they come back from their honeymoon to look at potential egg donors and talk about when they want to start the process but until then, Kurt wants to enjoy his wedding day and honeymoon in the city of love, because he still isn't sure if he's ready for a baby any time soon since he's only twenty-six. But he's talked to his dad about it who told him he was scared shitless as well before Kurt was born and everything changed once he held him in his arms. Hopefully it will be the same for him and he won't be so scared anymore when they actually have a baby. Blaine and Cooper were both raised mostly by nannies and later their tutors but Kurt doesn't want that for his children. When they have children he wants him and Blaine to raise them on their own and only work with a nanny when they have to go out at night. It shouldn't be a problem even if Kurt keeps performing because then he can look after the kid during the day and Blaine can take over when Kurt heads to the theater on days he doesn't have to fly to Washington to vote on bills in parliament.

"It doesn't sound right to make a baby like that," Queen Pamela wrinkles her nose in distaste.

"if you'd rather not have any grandkids biologically related to you," Kurt says before he can stop himself. "Cooper's not interested in having more kids, so Blaine's your only chance."

"Cooper's still young, he doesn't know what he wants yet," Blaine's mom shakes her head. "He'll probably want kids in a few years."

"He's already got kids, Mom," Blaine reminds Queen Pamela, keeping his voice down because no one is supposed to know about the animosities within the royal family. "You could go over to Cooper and Sarah right now and properly meet them because they're not going anywhere. Cooper will continue bringing his family to family events just like I will include Kurt from now on because maybe in a year or so we'll have our own family."

Which reminds Kurt. "I hope you're not moving out of the Palace because of me. I'm sure it's big enough for all of us to live together."

Not that he actually wants to live with his mother-in-law but he also doesn't want people to think she's moving out because he and Blaine told her to.

"Well, like you said. You might have your own family soon."

Joel saves them then by informing them that the caterers are ready to serve dinner. They'd decided that if the weather was still nice they wanted to have the whole wedding outside, ceremony, dinner and party because Kurt had seen pictures from a Palace garden party and had fallen in love with idea. Luckily, Joel had approved too.

Palace chef Tim has whipped up a ten course dinner served service à la russe and Kurt devours an oyster when the hors d'oeuvre are being served since he hasn't eaten since breakfast, his stomach in knots before the wedding. Thankfully, he has Blaine as a buffer between him and Queen Pamela, focusing on his dad and Carole instead who keep looking at the international royalty present with wide eyes. The string quartet keeps playing softly while they eat and when the final plate is cleared, Blaine leads Kurt out onto the dance floor for their first dance. Wes and Elliott have given them their best men speeches the day before because they were not appropriate for a public setting and since King Richard is dead, Joel thought it best to forgo the father of the groom speeches as well.

They share their first dance to an acoustic version of _All of Me (link)_ played by the string quartet hired from the New York Philharmonic and Kurt forgets the rest of the world for a moment when Blaine sings along into his ear as they slow dance. Much too soon the song is over and Kurt bows to Queen Pamela before offering her his hand while Blaine leads Carole out onto the dance floor while the musicians start Johann Strauss Jr.'s _Emperor's Waltz_. (link) As Kurt dances a traditional waltz with his mother-in-law he tells her quietly, "I'll make him happy, I promise you."

"It's still not right. A King needs a Queen by his side," Queen Pamela replies with a pleasant smile on her face.

"That ship's sailed though. I'm all you'll get and even if he breaks up with me in the future, he won't replace me with a wife. I think the sooner you accept that, the sooner we can be an actual family. Blaine would never keep your grandchildren from you, but when we have kids, I want them to feel loved by all their grandparents. I don't want them to feel like you only tolerate them to keep up appearances."

They dance past Blaine and Carole and it's such a striking difference; Carole laughing at something Blaine must have said and Blaine smiling brightly at her. Queen Pamela must see it too because there's a wistful expression on her face.

"Blaine said you don't get along too well with your mother-in-law and I don't want that. Carole adores Blaine and I would like to be on good terms with my own mother-in-law. I don't want to dread family Christmases, but look forward to seeing everyone."

He'll have to wait to find out if he's getting through to Blaine's mom because the song ends and he and Blaine switch dance partners.

"Your husband is so lovely, Kurt," Carole beams when Kurt leads her through another waltz. "I'm sure your mom would have loved him."

"I'd like to think so too," Kurt smiles softly.

According to his dad, his parents had known he likes boys since he was very young, so his mom probably wouldn't have had a problem with a son-in-law. More likely she would have teased him a lot, since when he was younger, he said he wanted to marry a prince one day.

Blaine and his mom seem to be in deep conversation as they dance together, and Kurt wonders if she's chastising her son for telling Kurt about her issues with Ruth or if maybe Kurt got through to her and she'll be less hostile from now on.

Once everyone joins them on the dance floor, Kurt dances with Rachel, Santana, Dani, Elliott and his dad, gravitating back to Blaine after each dance though. His husband is working his way through the Queens in attendance, but he too reserves every other dance for Kurt. The makeshift dance floor is decorated with white garlands and when the sun goes down they are lit up casting a soft glow over the dancer. Torches have been spread out over the rest of the rose garden, lighting the way between the banquet and the dance floor.

It's nearly ten when two men in a catering uniform wheel out a four feet tall vanilla sponge cake, layered with dark chocolate mousse and consisting of nine tiers all covered in vanilla fondant. Each tier is decorated with a variety of roses, calla lilies, orchids and Blaine's family crest. There's no way he can ever tell his dad that their wedding cake cost nearly forty thousand dollars, when his dad had to lay off a mechanic recently because business is down. He himself has only paid for his suit, his family's flights and their accommodations because the Palace has a separate budget for things like royal weddings, funerals and coronations and Kurt was quite relieved when he found out that Blaine's coronation and coronation ball was even more expensive than their wedding which comes out at nearly five million dollars.

Following tradition, they cut the cake together and feed each other a piece of it before the cake is taken away again so it can be cut into proper portions for their guests. While everyone is busy with eating cake, they finally find a moment to sneak off, but not into the Palace but toward the stables, one of Blaine's favorite places in the Palace gardens.

"Hi," Blaine smiles, when they're finally, blessedly, alone - or as alone as they can be with their guards hovering close by.

Choosing to ignore them, Kurt leans in to kiss his husband softly.

"Kurt, I, I just wanted you to know that by marrying me today, you've made me the happiest man in the Kingdom," the King says when the kiss ends. "I'm so glad that I met you even if I didn't see it that way when we first did. You made me see what my life could be like if I just fought for it and how much happier a life not lived in secret would make me. I'm the luckiest man because my best friend agreed to marry me." Then he leans in to whisper into Kurt's ear. "It also doesn't hurt that the sex is fantastic," he adds with a wink and Kurt feels his cheeks heat up though he doesn't disagree.

Whatever their problems were in the past, the bedroom was never one of them.

"There was never another answer since you stole my heart," Kurt assures his husband. "You know I don't care about titles or living in the Palace, so I would have married you even if you were nothing more than a penniless sitar player. I fell hopelessly in love with you and even when I tried to move on so I could lead a simpler life, my heart wouldn't let me since it knew who it belonged to. I…"

Whatever he wanted to add gets cut short by Blaine putting both hands on his cheeks and leaning in for a deep kiss, licking into Kurt's mouth and sucking on his tongue until Kurt feels light-headed and grabs the King's shoulders for support, because even after four years together, Blaine's kisses still make him weak in the knees.

"I wish I could take you upstairs right now," Blaine says huskily.

"Later," Kurt promises. "If we're not too drunk."

"That's never stopped us before," Blaine grins before he lets go off Kurt with a sigh, straightens Kurt's tie and holds out his hand for Kurt to take because they can't be gone too long before people will start to talk.

The Palace has arranged a fireworks display for midnight and Kurt sways in Blaine's arms as they watch the sky light up all around them in celebration of their marriage while Elton John performs _Your Song_ , one of Kurt's favorite 's under no illusion that everyone in the country will be happy for them, or will accept a King married to another man. Many have blamed King Blaine for soaring oil prices after a number of middle eastern kingdoms stopped selling their oil to America following Blaine's ascension to the throne, but Kurt tries to see the upside - that the government was forced to invest more in renewable energy until Saudi Arabia caved when it realized it couldn't boycott a big market like the US if it wanted to make a profit. It's not safe for Blaine - and now Kurt too - to travel to certain regions in the world though where he would be arrested and at best only imprisoned even though he is the King of America. So no Caribbean honeymoon for them and no invitations to their wedding were issued to countries that criminalize homosexuality.

It's nearly five in the morning when the last guests - his and Blaine's friends - stumble off to bed and Kurt has to lean heavily on Blaine too as they make their way upstairs to the King's quarters and Kurt's new home. When he asks the King for help with his pants he's not doing it to try to be sexy but because the button refuses to cooperate. Maybe he shouldn't have had those last four glasses of Champagne, he thinks while Blaine, who seems much more sober even though they had pretty much the same amount of drinks, frees him from his pants. And then stays on his knees in front of Kurt, but Kurt has to sit down on the bed, because the room is spinning, and there's no way way he'll be able to stay upright if Blaine does what Kurt thinks he's about to do.

"No," Blaine whines. "Don't fall asleep on me now. You promised me 'later'."

"I'm tired," Kurt yawns but it turns into a moan quickly when Blaine's wet and warm mouth engulfs him. "Jesus, Blaine. Give a guy some warning."

Blaine pulls off long enough to ask, "want me to stop?" and to grin at Kurt triumphantly when Kurt shakes his head.

Blaine, the bastard, knows all too well that Kurt would never say no to a blow job from his talented boyfriend, who's his husband now which somehow makes it even better. But if they're going to have a proper wedding night, he doesn't just want Blaine to blow him before he passes out, so he tugs his husband's curls to get his attention, but Blaine just moans, weakening Kurt's resolve to do some work tonight as well.

"Blaine, stop it," he groans, "you're gonna make me come."

"I thought that was the whole point. Have I been doing it wrong all those years?" Blaine teases him, looking up at Kurt through his ridiculously long lashes which always drives Kurt crazy.

Blaine's much too coherent and dressed for Kurt's taste so he grabs his husband by the collar of his uniform jacket, already unbuttoned because of all the dancing they've been doing, and yanks him up, making him stumble and fall on top of Kurt with an 'oof'.

"Off," Kurt paws at the jacket and thankfully his husband gets with the program quickly and strips off his uniform until he's gloriously naked.

"You're my husband," Kurt smiles, because how is this his life? How is he married to this gorgeous man who for some reason chose Kurt too.

He can feel Blaine's erection against his hip, but the expression on his husband's face is soft and relaxed.

"And you are mine. How did I get so lucky?"

"You haven't gotten lucky yet," Kurt giggles at his own joke, because 'get lucky', get it?

Blaine's answer is to fully cover Kurt's body with his and then kiss him deep and dirty before leaving a trail of hickeys from Kurt's left collarbone all the way down to his right hip bone which has Kurt twisting in the sheets and willing himself not to come just from this.

"Fuck, Blaine," he gasps when Blaine takes his dick into his mouth again and then he's a goner, because Blaine knows how to drive him crazy.

"Do you still want me to fuck you, or are you going to fall asleep?" Blaine's mouth is suddenly back next to Kurt's ear and he nods sleepily because he had wedding night plans that definitely included his husband making love to him.

"I'm awake," he promises but he must doze off right away because the next time he opens his eyes, it's morning and his head is pounding, like it had the first morning he met Blaine. Only, he's pretty sure he fell asleep before they had sex unless Blaine cleaned up the evidence before he went to bed as well and his husband wasn't that sober. Blaine's curled up next to him, his curls lose in places where Kurt grabbed them the night before if he remembers it right and as much as he'd like to continue what they started, he has to deal with the pounding in his head and the queasiness of his stomach first. Briefly he wonders, if you can do the walk of shame in your own home as he forces his aching body out of bed and puts on one of the fluffy white robes, praying that it won't be Puck and Sam back on duty but some nameless guards he doesn't have to see again after today.

It's neither. "You look like shit," Zizzes tells him, "but at least you had some fun last night."

Kurt pulls the robe tighter around his body when she stares at a sliver of exposed flesh that Blaine probably marked with the way his guard is grinning.

"Get me some Aspirin before I fire you," he snarks but even though he hasn't known her long, he's sure she knows he doesn't really mean it.

"Anything else?" Zizzes asks innocently. "Some cover up or a light scarf."

What did Blaine do to him? They are scheduled to give an interview later today - their very first one - and Kurt can't look like his husband tried to eat him, especially because it's taken this long for Sue and Blaine's advisers to agree to let him give an interview about his relationship with Kurt. A recent poll showed that 67% of people in the Kingdom don't understand how Blaine can be an openly gay King and secure the line of succession to the throne, so Blaine's told Sue he wants to give an interview together with Kurt after the wedding to explain things to his subjects and assure them that they are going to start a family soon. And then after the interview, a private jet will be waiting to take them to Paris for their honeymoon.

"Just the pills," he tells her as he rubs his temple. "Put them on the coffee table when you have them, I'm going to check the damage."

Blaine doesn't stir when Kurt walks past their kingsize bed into the walk in closet and drops his robe in front of the floor length mirror, but he does sit up with a start when Kurt yells loudly, "holy shit, Blaine," because his neck looks like he spent the night with a vampire and when did that even happen?

"Don't yell," Blaine rasps, clutching his own head as his eyes dart around the room until he finds Kurt. "Ow."

"Zizzes' getting us some Aspirin," Kurt tells his husband as he holds up a turtleneck sweater in front of him wondering if anyone would believe him if he said, turtlenecks in summer are the new height of fashion.

He'll probably have to call the woman who did his makeup yesterday instead and hope she can work a miracle with the part of his neck that won't be covered by his shirt collar.

Blaine's eyes widen in shock when he sees what he did to Kurt, but it's quickly replaced by a smug expression, like he's trying to say, 'look, I did a thing' like a pubescent boy.

"Sue's going to kill you if she sees those," Kurt points at his neck as he climbs back into bed and rest his aching head on Blaine's smooth chest. Zizzes will let them know when she's back with the pills.

"Shit, I totally forgot about the interview," Blaine groans and brushes his thumb over one of the bruises on Kurt's neck. "I thought I'd keep you in bed all day and then whisk you off to the airport when it's already dark and no one would see."

The intercom in the bedroom crackles to life and Kurt calls out a thank you for Zizzes. He waits another moment before he stumbles out of bed and into their living room where he finds a pack of Ibuprofen sitting on the coffee table as instructed. After filling two glasses of water in the bathroom he hands two pills to Blaine before swallowing the meds as well. Thankfully, he manages to fall back asleep not long after, and when he wakes up next, it's already three in the afternoon and Blaine's singing in the shower, clearly feeling better as well.

Carla, the makeup artist, arrives an hour later and Kurt lets her work on his neck while the camera team sets up in the library for the interview. Sue's picked a journalist who's interviewed everyone from Johnny Depp to the Pope and she and Santana will supervise to make sure he and Blaine are only asked pre-approved questions. It's one of those days when Kurt's not allowed to pick his own clothes, his stylist having come up with an outfit for him and Blaine together with Sue and Santana for maximum impact. They are supposed to look approachable and apparently, a lot of Kurt's clothes scream the opposite, while the jeans and t-shirts laid out for them are supposed to make them look like totally normal people.

Christine, their interviewer, is already sitting in an armchair opposite the couch when Kurt and Blaine walk into the room holding hands, and Blaine shakes her hand after telling her to please not curtsey before they take a seat opposite her.

CM: First of all, thank you for having me here today. I'll try not to keep you too long so you can leave for your honeymoon. Are you allowed to say where you are going?"

KB: We've had invitations from quite a few European monarchs and we've taken one of them up on the offer, but that's all I can say. Otherwise, I'll get in trouble with the head of Palace security.

KH: He wouldn't even tell me at first, but eventually I got it out of him. I think at this point it's no secret anymore that I like clothes and I can't go on my honeymoon if I don't know what to pack for.

KB: It's our honeymoon Kurt, you're not supposed to pack any clothes.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to delete this part," Sue interrupts. "You can't say that on TV, Your Majesty."

Blaine rolls his eyes but complies and his next answer is much tamer.

KB: It's a good thing we're flying private because otherwise Kurt's luggage fees would probably cost more than the whole flight.

CM: You are an excellent pilot yourself, Your Majesty, and I heard you often take Kurt flying. Why not fly him yourself?

KB: Blaine's just fine.

"Your Majesty," Sue interrupts again, uncharacteristically formal in the presence of the camera team.

"What?" Blaine challenges her. "The whole point of this interview is to make us look like normal people. That's not gonna happen if I'm called Your Majesty the whole time."

"Fine," Sue says but it's clear she isn't too happy. "Please repeat the question."

CM: You are an excellent pilot yourself, Your Majesty, and I heard you often take Kurt flying. Why not fly him yourself?

KB: Please call me Blaine. It always makes me feel weird when people call me Your Majesty and then turn around and call Kurt Kurt. But to answer your question. Unfortunately, my license only allows me to fly royal aircraft and I couldn't land one of my planes in a foreign Kingdom. It would be seen as an act of war and as much as I love Kurt, I wouldn't start a war over him.

KH: You wouldn't? You wound me. Maybe I should marry a King who would.

CM: Kurt, you had no idea Blaine would be King one day when you met. What was it like for you when you first started dating?

KH: I think pretty much everyone knows how we met but contrary to what people have been saying, I really didn't know who he was when we met. He didn't look like he did in his pictures and when I found out who he was, I freaked. And then we talked - a lot. Because we couldn't just part ways and forget we ever met. My picture was everywhere. So we talked and decided to see if there was more between us than just physical attraction. And then we decided to date. He was only second in line to the throne then and I never considered that this might change. Neither did he. But then his father died and suddenly he was the Crown Prince and the rules changed. He couldn't just publicly date me because he was the heir to the throne and back then, if anything had happened to Cooper, Blaine could have only carried on his family's line if he married a woman and had children with her.

KB: I was very lucky that Cooper changed the laws for me. People aren't wrong when they are calling the law 'Blaine's law' because he did it for me. He not only made it possible for all married same sex couples in the Kingdom to adopt and have access to reproductive medicine, he got a law through parliament that allowed me all those things as well. Suddenly, I could marry the person I loved and have a family with them.

CM: There's some confusion about that, because royal law stated only two royals could create heirs to the throne. Since you married civilly, Kurt has not been granted a title and still, when you have children, they will be your legal heirs. How does that work?

KB: What my brother did was sign it into law that only one person in the couple had to be royal. So if a King and Queen couldn't conceive they could hire a surrogate or use a sperm donor and the child would still be considered of royal blood. The new law states that this rule applies to any married couple and since Kurt and I are married in the eyes of the law, when we have children that are biologically mine, they will be considered legal heirs to the throne.

CM: But not children that are biologically Kurt's?

KB: Unfortunately no. Because he does not have a title, any children that are biologically his won't be carrying a title either.

CM: But I heard you are working to change that.

KB: In the past, when a non titled man married a princess he was styled 'Earl' and their children styled Lord and Lady. So I'd like to introduce a law that would style Cooper's adopted children in that way and if we have children that are biologically Kurt's, I would like the same to apply to them. But I don't have the support for it in parliament at the moment.

CM: Is that something important for you, Kurt, having a title?

KH: It's not. Some things would be easier if I had a title, but I always wanted to be on stage. That's all that mattered to me. I liked the guy I met before I knew he was Prince Blaine and it was his title that made me hesitant to date him. I would have preferred to date a regular guy because dating Blaine meant following a lot of rules. Like a lot.

CM: You seemed to have followed them well. I know the press has been looking for a scandal since the Palace confirmed your relationship but you gave them nothing.

KB: I wouldn't say nothing. It was just harder for them to come up with a scandal when the way Kurt and I met was so scandalous. Or rather, it was scandalous because I got caught.

CM: Would you have kept seeing Kurt if there hadn't been the video that outed you as gay? You were engaged to Princess Charlotte of Spain at the time.

KB: Honest answer - no. I liked him, but I couldn't risk it. No one was supposed to know I'm gay because back then it seemed impossible to me to be openly gay and second in line to the throne. Charlotte didn't know and she knows how truly sorry I am about hurting her. I introduced her to her husband because I felt horrible about the whole affair. Luckily she liked him too.

CM: People have bee speculating for years, if your father King Richard would have approved your relationship with Kurt.

Out of sight, Kurt squeezes Blaine's hand because he knows Blaine will have to lie. He's agreed to the question but only to put the rumors to bed.

KB: My father didn't know and while we talked in broad terms what my revelation meant for the Crown, I never found out how he personally felt about it. It's one of my biggest regrets that we didn't have the time to have an honest discussion about it.

CM: Was he surprised?

KB: Yes.

CM: And your mother?

KB: She came to my wedding. She wouldn't have if she didn't approve.

CM: We've talked about the two of you starting a family. Anything you want to tell America about that.

KB: If Kurt and I are lucky, we'll have a child within the next two years.

 **January 2022**

 _By Order of The Crown of America, The Royal Family of Virginia_

 _The Palace announces the birth of Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess Alexandra Elisabeth Sophia of Virginia, born December 29th at 3.09 AM at Mount Sinai hospital in New York City. The Princess was released from hospital to his Majesty King Blaine and Mr. Kurt Hummel on New Year's Eve and now resides with the royal couple at the Palace._

His daughter is asleep in Kurt's arms as he looks at the picture released with the announcement. The Palace photographer took it right after they came home with Alexandra from the hospital, the future Queen held in Blaine's arms as they sat close together on the main living room couch, the fire place roaring behind them - a direct replica of all royal baby announcements since the invention of photography. Even Blaine's mother had flown in from Paris ,where she moved to following Kurt and Blaine's wedding, as soon as Blaine had called her about the birth of her granddaughter. Burt and Carole beat her though, arriving in New York before Alexandra was even born because Kurt had called them the moment their surrogate went into labor. The agency they had hired, had managed to find an egg donor that looked like she could be related to Kurt - they checked and she's not - and thankfully the donor had ticked the anonymous donation box, meaning she wouldn't be told if or by whom her eggs would be used. They couldn't have used her eggs otherwise, because who ever ended up as the 'biological mother' could never find out she was biologically related to the future Queen or King of America. Blaine had purchase all eggs the woman had donated so no one else would be related to the royal children. They thought it was the safe thing to do especially because they were the first royal couple to have children through surrogacy and couldn't ask anyone for advice.

Alexandra looks like she could be his when he compares her to his own baby pictures. Not that it matters to him, but he knows his dad isn't too happy that Kurt can't be the biological father of their children - at least not until they've had at least two with Blaine's sperm.

At a soft knock on the door to the nursery they've set up in the 'Queen's bedroom' opposite their own, Kurt looks up and smiles at Cooper.

"Come in," he tells his bother-in-law who walks into the room quietly followed by Sarah and the kids.

Cooper's been performing a one man show in Las Vegas since September after a string of cameos in films and TV shows. He's much more successful as an entertainer though, because Cooper's show revolves around his life as a former King and people always want to hear more about the royal family. Blaine himself isn't supposed to give interviews - the one exception being the interview they gave right after their wedding - and when Kurt does he only ever answers questions concerning his career but never his relationship with the King. Cooper, however, is pretty free in what he can say these days. He still had to send his script to the Palace for approval because there are some things the public isn't supposed to ever find out, but Blaine let him keep most things in the show since it was mostly about Cooper anyway and only had a few anecdotes about the royal family in it. Cooper's been doing the show the last couple of days, so he and his family have only flown out today to see the newest member of the royal family.

"Blaine's in Washington," Kurt tells Cooper as he reluctantly hands his daughter over to her uncle while Sarah, Billy and Lucy crowd around him.

Kurt's relinquished his role to his understudy a few weeks ago, but he has agreed to return for a few performances every months because he isn't ready to fully let go just yet either and Blaine's agreed to watch Alexandra on those nights.

"Mom said she's yours," Lucy frowns, "but you and uncle Blaine are both boys so how did you have her?"

At nearly twelve, Lucy knows all about where babies come from but apparently no one has explained surrogacy to her yet.

"Don't be stupid," Billy rolls his eyes. "They paid a woman to have her for them because they aren't allowed to adopt."

"I'm not stupid," Lucy hisses and Alexandra stirs in Cooper's arms.

"Kids, settle down or we'll have to wait outside," Sarah admonishes Lucy and Billy. "I'm sure uncle Kurt hasn't been getting much sleep and would prefer it if the baby didn't wake up."

Kurt gives her a grateful smile. He's actually been sleeping with Alexandra in the 'Queen's bedroom' the past few days with the baby monitor turned off, because Blaine had important meetings and needed his sleep more than Kurt.

"Has my mother seen her yet?" Cooper asks and Kurt nods.

"She arrived from Paris the day we took her home from the hospital. After Blaine showed her the paternity test she even picked her up and told Blaine to take a few pictures so she could email them to your grandparents. She's already gone back though."

Queen Pamela is always nice to Cooper's wife and kids these days, but Kurt knows it's only because Cooper's threatened her with telling the press that his mother hates his wife and adopted step-children. There's no way, Sue wouldn't have stopped such an interview from ever seeing the light of day, but Pamela has been much nicer to them all since, even buying presents for Lucy and Billy for Christmas the previous year - the first they all celebrated together at the Palace. After Blaine recorded his Christmas speech and the traditional dinner with Palace staff, he and Blaine had hosted a family dinner for Cooper, Sarah, Lucy, Billy, Sarah's parents, Queens Pamela and Ruth and Carole and Kurt's dad and Blaine and Cooper had only run upstairs to their balcony once while their mother was at the Palace. Kurt's not a fan of Blaine's occasional smoking, but as long as it's only the occasional cigarette and he's not doing it anywhere near their daughter, he won't tell Blaine he can't do it. Just like Blaine doesn't say anything when Kurt spends hours watching _The Real Housewives of New Jersey_ or similar programs and buys things from a trashy home shopping channel they don't need and can't have delivered to the Palace anyway so the packages have been piling up at Richmond House.

"I'm surprised she even came since she was just here for Christmas when this little cutie was supposed to arrive."

The doctors had calculated a Christmas baby and so the holidays were spent clutching their phones in case their surrogate went into labor while the King recorded his Christmas speech and Kurt was cooking dinner with Carole because they'd started a new tradition the previous year of giving the whole Palace staff Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. They couldn't give the guards time off because Blaine wasn't allowed to go anywhere without guards - not even from his office on the second floor to their apartment on the third - but everyone else from the kitchen staff to the butler was sent home after the staff dinner and Kurt and Carole took over the massive Palace kitchen. The Andersons on the Queen's side had looked at them like they were crazy, used to a certain lifestyle, but Kurt had enjoyed spending some time with his stepmom and preparing a meal together which he hadn't done since he spent a few days in Ohio before his wedding.

'I'm surprised she didn't accuse Alexandra of arriving late on purpose," Kurt jokes as he watches anxiously as Sarah helps Lucy hold her cousin for the first time.

'Did she bring her 'friend'?" Cooper ask and Kurt shrugs.

'If he came to New York with her she didn't tell us. Blaine keeps telling her that we want to meet him, but apparently she doesn't think it's proper to bring him to America even though she's been a widow for nearly six years."

"She's not even sixty yet - no one would blame her if she remarried," Cooper agrees. "Well, as long as he isn't a divorcee," Cooper grimaces because Sarah's not allowed to be Alexandra's godmother because she's a remarried divorcee.

Kurt would prefer it if his kids weren't baptized at all but he agreed to it long ago and if he has to do it, he would have loved to have Cooper and Sarah as godparents. But the bishops have said no and Rachel can't be godmother either because she's Jewish. So they've settled on Wes and his wife Carmen as another set of godparents because the Church wouldn't accept Kurt's other female friends either because they're all openly gay.

"Blaine thinks she doesn't want to tell us about him because he's younger," Kurt says, happy to have someone to gossip with.

He does get along a little better with Queen Pamela these days, but she still treats him like any day Blaine could dump him for a woman, making him call her by her title still and making sure they are never alone together.

"If you're that curious, just look him up on Facebook," Billy rolls his eyes and all grown ups gape at the fifteen year old. "What?" Billy shrugs. "She asked me to help her set it up when she was here for Coops birthday in the summer."

"Mom's on Facebook?" Cooper exclaims loudly and Alexandra starts screaming in Lucy's arms.

Kurt quickly takes her from the eleven year old and holds her against his chest, hoping to calm her quickly because she isn't due for her next bottle for another two hours. Thankfully, their surrogate has agreed to pump milk for them for six months so they can feed Alexandra breast milk instead of formula, but obviously, she still has to get it from a bottle. Kurt sings her a song from his show which is the furthest thing from a lullaby, but it's been working much better than any lullabies so far and he doesn't really care what he sings as long as it calms her down.

Alexandra finally falls back asleep when Blaine returns from Washington, where he's been meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss a new pipeline the government wants to build on land belonging to the Navajos which Blaine has been vetoing vehemently.

"How did it go?" he asks after Blaine first kisses the top of Alexandra's head and then the corner of Kurt's mouth.

"It was a pretty close vote but I managed to convince a few members of Grey's party that we should keep looking for another location and not decide anything before we haven't received all environmental studies."

Even though Blaine hadn't caused 'the oil crisis of 2017' on purpose it had made him the darling of the green party and had earned him many fans who supported renewable energies over oil and coal. His husband had lost the vote over the pipeline though, but he vowed to make sure it would only be built after environmental studies were conducted and they could come to an agreement with the landowners on whose land they would build the pipeline connecting Alaska to the West Coast.

"That's good," Kurt tells him before he carefully hands Alexandra over to Blaine.

The little Crown Princess snuggles closer to her daddy's chest but doesn't wake up again and Kurt wonders if it would be impolite to tell Blaine to take the baby and Cooper's family downstairs so he can catch up on some sleep. Thankfully, Blaine notices how tired he is before he has to say anything and asks Lucy and Billy if they want to take Harry and Sally out for a walk in the Palace Gardens before dinner. Kurt watches the kids run off before Blaine, Cooper and Sarah follow at a more leisurely pace, Alexandra safe in Blaine's arms, before he heads into his and Blaine's bedroom and face-plants onto their bed, nearly squashing McQueen in the process who's somehow managed to sneak into the bedroom again. McQueen's one of two British shorthair silver tabbies, Blaine's given him for their first wedding anniversary in September and though they've been trying to keep the two seven months old cats out of the bedrooms they always seem to find their way back into his and Blaine's bed. Predictably, Coco isn't far either, climbing on Kurt's back only moments later where she curls up and falls back asleep. Kurt barely notices McQueen joining his sister before he's out like a light too.

 **March 2022**

There have been new rules since Alexandra was born. If Kurt's out on his own he only has to have Zizzes with him. But if he takes the Crown Princess off Palace grounds, he needs extra security so his daughter - or as the government sees it, the King's daughter and heir apparent to the throne - is protected. Kurt's not a fan of Hunter Clarrington but according to Palace chief of security Shannon Beiste he has experience protecting the children of celebrities and as long as he does his job well, how Kurt feels about him is irrelevant.

Rachel and Jesse have invited him over for cake and coffee to tell him some news, which Kurt expects will be Rachel announcing her own pregnancy. So he bundles up Alexandra and calls Palace security to let them know he is going out with his daughter so they can send for Hunter. There shouldn't be any problem since the paparazzi rarely follow his car these day - the novelty having worn off - at least as long as they don't suspect that he has the Crown Princess with him, which has happened a few times so far, because Kurt doesn't like being cooped up in the Palace when Blaine's busy with work and he refuses to get a babysitter every time he wants to go into the city.

Hunter's already waiting next to the car when Kurt walks outside followed by Zizzes who's carrying Alexandra's car seat while Kurt carries her secured to his chest by a baby sling.

"Your Highness," Hunter greets the sleeping baby, before he nods in Kurt's direction. "Mr. Hummel."

Kurt's told him multiple times to just call him Kurt and that it's really not necessary to address the baby by her title because he doesn't want her to grow up thinking she's better than everyone else, but so far Hunter's refused to listen to him. He probably would if Kurt had a royal title himself, but that's never going to happen, not when the Church still has so much influence. He'll have to tell Blaine to talk to Hunter about it, because he really can't keep calling a baby Your Highness.

Kurt usually drives himself because Blaine's inherited quite a few fancy cars from his father, but when he's out with his daughter he usually relies on one of the drivers they have on staff. Therefore, he doesn't have to look for parking when they get to Rachel and Jesse's midtown apartment and by the time the few people out on the street have realized who's getting out of the car, Kurt and his entourage have already made it into the building.

Rachel had gotten the chance to play Eliza Schuyler in Chicago and had only returned to New York recently. Unfortunately, Kurt had missed her wedding a few months ago because he'd gone with Blaine on a tour of the territories belonging to America and a tropical storm had grounded his flight. By the time he finally made it to New York, the party was nearly over, but fortunately, Rachel had forgiven him quickly since he hadn't missed the ceremony on purpose.

"She's so cute, Kurt," Rachel coos while Jesse takes Hunter's and Zizzes' coats and tells them to make themselves at home, used now to the fact that Kurt can't visit them on his own anymore. "Are you sure she isn't yours?"

"Oh trust me, we're sure. The government pretty much forced Blaine to take a paternity test when she was born to prove she is a legitimate heir and I wasn't anywhere near the clinic when she was conceived."

"Any plans for number two?" Rachel asks but Kurt can tell she wants to tell him her news first.

"What about you Rach? I hope your news isn't that you're leaving town again for a year."

"Actually," Rachel beams. "Our kids will grow up together. We're having a girl in August."

Kurt pulls her into a one armed hug, careful not to wake Alexandra who's back in her sling.

"That's amazing. Congrats you two."

"We though it's the right time because Rachel's engagement just ended and my contract runs out in June and I won't start rehearsal for _Wicked_ until January," Jesse says with a big smile on his face as he stares at the baby sleeping against Kurt's chest.

"Would you like to hold her?" Kurt asks and glares at Hunter when he frowns, because he's Alexandra's father too and no guard will tell him who can or can't hold his daughter.

He carefully removes her from the sling and smiles when she blinks her blue eyes open. Luckily, she doesn't start crying when he transfers her into Jesse's arms. Jesse hadn't seen her yet, unlike Rachel who he had invited to the Palace shortly after Alexandra was born. They manage a good half hour with Rachel and Jesse alternately holding her before she demands Kurt's attention and Kurt prepares a bottle for her in Rachel's kitchen. Afterward, she sleeps through the rest of Kurt's visit, and Kurt pretends to see what Rachel's pointing at when she hands him a framed ultrasound image of her unborn daughter. But to be fair, he never really saw what Blaine pretended to see when they got the first ultrasound pictures of Alexandra either.

"We'll have to throw you a shower," he tells her when it's time for him to head home. "I'll talk to Blaine, see if we can't have it at the Palace since we have all this space we never use."

Kurt usually spends all his time on the third floor or in the gardens because the second feels like a museum and the first is off limits since Blaine decided to open the Palace for tours year round after his coronation. They've been donating a lot of the extra income, but mostly Blaine's been using it for repairs and to pay for Kurt's security before they got married so the royal family isn't costing tax payers any extra money.

His driver drops them off at the back entrance even though the last tour's ended an hour ago by the time Kurt returns home and Kurt smiles when he sees Blaine's driver Liam take off his cap because that means that not only is his husband back from Washington, he also doesn't have plans to go out again tonight if he's already dismissed his driver. Blaine never got his driver's license because he isn't allowed to drive himself on public roads anyway and he doesn't need one to drive on the estates owned by the royal family, though Kurt knows he still hates it that he can't do simple things like drive the two of them upstate to the club because sometimes it's nice to go out for a proper ride even though Allegro and Calypso moved to the Palace stables after the wedding.

He finds Blaine in his office signing papers but when he sees Kurt, he puts his pen down and pushes himself out of his chair so he can greet them properly.

"Do you have to finish this tonight or can you join me for dinner? Tim can have it ready in thirty minutes," Kurt tells Blaine after kissing his husband hello.

"No, it can wait," Blaine says, "and if you think Alexandra will sleep through the next thirty minutes, I'd love it if you joined me in the shower. I only just got back and I wanted to finish this before you came home."

Their daughter has a knack for keeping them from having sex. It's as if she has a sixth sense for it, because as soon as clothes come off, she starts crying and won't quiet until either Kurt and Blaine have sung her back to sleep. But not today, Kurt decides, because he has a secret weapon. After extracting Alexandra from the sling he calls for Puck.

"Yes your quasi highness," Puck mock salutes him and Kurt holds out the baby to him.

"I've heard through the grapevine aka Palace gossip that Quinn's pregnant, so here's your chance to practice. She's been fed and I changed her into a new diaper before we came home, so in case she starts crying just sing to her or ask Sam to help you. Under no circumstances will you come into our room for the next thirty minutes unless you drop her, which you won't do because I'll kill you if you drop her."

He doesn't give Puck a chance to protest, knowing his daughter is perfectly safe with the guards especially because Sam's with Puck and Sam's wife Mercedes recently gave birth to baby number two. Instead he grabs the King's hand and drags him toward the stairs because they don't have much time and he wants to make the little time they get alone together count.

 **August 2023**

 _By Order of The Crown of America, The Royal Family of Virginia_

 _The Palace announces the birth of His Royal Highness The Prince James Charles Francis of Virginia, born August 3rd at 7.29 PM at Mount Sinai hospital in New York City. The Prince was released from hospital to his Majesty King Blaine and Mr. Kurt Hummel on August 4th and now resides with the royal couple and sister Crown Princess Alexandra at the Palace._

It's not easy to get Alexandra to sit still on Kurt's lap while Blaine holds Jamie for the pictures announcing the addition to their family, but at nineteen months old the concept of being still is foreign to her. She's learned to walk by holding onto Harry or Sally and as soon as she could move without help, McQueen and Coco learned to fear her because no matter how often he and Blaine told her to be nice to the cats and not pull their tails, she never listened. She only recently stopped doing in when Coco had enough and scratched Alexandra's pudgy cheek. His daughter screamed so loudly, half of the royal guards stationed at the Palace came running and Kurt was glad their son hadn't been born yet because he could still give his daughter his undivided attention. After ascertaining that it really was just as scratch that didn't even require a band aid, he assured the guards that no, no one was murdering the Crown Princess and that she definitely had earned that scratch with the way she'd been treating the cats. Alexandra wouldn't start crying though until Blaine came and sang to her which made Kurt roll his eyes because since he spent the most time with her he was always the one who had to tell her no while Blaine got to be the fun daddy.

"With the next one, I want to be the good cop," Kurt told him later that night when Alexandra was asleep in her bedroom and they were in bed together. And Blaine had promised to spend some time with her one on one before their son was born so Kurt wasn't the only one who raised their daughter.

Since they used eggs from the same donor again, Jamie's the spitting image of Alexandra when she was born, blue eyes and dark hair, but straight instead of the curls already framing Alexandra's face and held back by two bows in cobalt blue, the family color. She's wearing a creamed colored knee-length dress with cream buckle shoes, while he and Blaine are both dressed in light summer suits. Jamie is wrapped in a cream colored blanket sporting the royal crest and while Kurt tries to get Alexandra to sit still for a few minutes, Blaine tries to get Jamie to keep his eyes open for the pictures. Harry and Sally lying by their feet complete the idyllic picture that's supposed to show Blaine's subjects how perfectly normal their family is even though the King's raising a family with another man.

A man who dares to occasionally work away from the home even after the birth of the heirs. It's always kind of ironic when people complain about him performing now that they have kids, but at the same time saying Kurt shouldn't be let anywhere near Princess Alexandra because technically she's only King Blaine's anyway and maybe if she were raised by the King and a female nanny not too much damage would be done to the future Queen. It's because of people like that, who call two men raising a child together a crime and a danger to the child, that Kurt will get even more security if goes anywhere with both kids, though he knows that Alexandra's security is more important to 'the Palace' because she's the heir apparent and Jamie 'only' second in line to the throne since the law that had prioritized male children over females in the line of succession had been abolished by King Richard in 2010 following pressure from the government since all King- and Queendoms in Europe had already abolished it.

Finally, the photographer is done and Kurt lets Alexandra wriggle off his lap though he frowns when she throws herself on top of Harry in the beautiful dress Kurt had bought her just for the pictures.

"Should we go for a walk before my mother gets here?" Blaine asks once the photographer has left.

It's a beautiful and hot day and maybe they could even go for a boat ride on the lake, Kurt muses.

"If you change her into something she can get dirty," he tells the King because he has no plans to do it all on his own again with baby number two.

Blaine wants them to have a third child with Kurt's sperm but as much as he knows that his dad would like a grandchild that's biologically Kurt's even though he loves Alexandra very much, he's told Blaine he would only agree to a third child if Blaine would pitch in more with their son.

"When I said I didn't want our kids to be raised by nannies and tutors, I didn't mean I wanted them raised by just one parent," he told Blaine a few weeks ago when Blaine forwarded him an email from the agency that said that they found a donor who looked like a long lost relative of Blaine's. Again they checked and she wasn't.

"What can she get dirty?" Blaine asks and Kurt knows they would be quicker if he took her upstairs and changed her, but he wants Blaine to do it.

"Her play clothes are in the left wardrobe. Just pick any dress that's in there and a hat so she won't get sunburned."

While Blaine takes Alexandra upstairs, Kurt puts another layer of sunscreen on Jamie and puts his light summer hat back on his head. They'll have to head outside through the rose garden, because they've opened parts of the park to the public as part of the Palace tour and it would require way too much security if they went out through the main terrace on the first floor where they'd for sure run into a tour group.

Blaine looks frazzled and a few curls have come lose when he returns, Alexandra now wearing a yellow polka dot dress, matching hat and another pair of buckle shoes. It's one of the dressed Kurt's bought at H&M for every day use because as much as he loves fashion, even he thinks it's too much to dress a toddler in designer clothes on a daily basis. They get a lot of beautiful dresses from designers hoping to boast that they are dressing the future Queen, but Kurt's sent them all back because he's been earning good money the last few years and prefers to buy his own and his kids clothes himself.

To get downstairs, they take one of the many hidden staircases built at a time when servants weren't supposed to be seen while they catered to the monarch's every whim and step through a door disguised by flowery tapestry in the sitting room next to the rose garden. Their staff is under instruction to call Kurt's cell when Queen Pamela arrives, but until then Kurt watches with a smile on his face as Alexandra toddles along next to the dogs while holding Blaine's hand and Jamie's sound asleep in Kurt's arms.

 **February 2026**

"How does the baby get in there?" four year old Alexandra asks, pointing at their surrogate's rounded stomach.

Blaine was supposed to meet them at the clinic so they could find out the sex of the baby together but after a bomb threat the DC airport was evacuated and Blaine denied access to the plane he flew back and forth between New York and Washington until the emergency services gave the all clear. If it wasn't for that, Kurt would be pissed that Blaine's not here to help him with this.

Because how does he explain this? He can't give her the usual when a mommy and daddy love each other very much spiel because she doesn't have a mommy and what if explaining the process opens a whole different can of worms? Because so far she hasn't asked why a woman is having her new brother or sister in her stomach when she has two fathers but no mother. And there's no way he can tell her he'll explain when she's older. That still works with Jamie who's two and a half, but Alexandra doesn't accept that answer anymore. So, he'll just have to tell her the truth then, Kurt resigns himself to it.

"You know how I told you that some kids have two mommies, some have two daddies and some have a mommy and a daddy?" he asks her and gives Serena a grateful smile when she distracts Jamie with a picture book while he explains. Alexandra nods.

"Well, only a mommy and a daddy can have a baby without help, so when two daddies love each other very much, they ask a nice woman like Serena for help and then she carries a baby in her tummy for them because they can't do it themselves."

"Why not?" Alexandra frowns and stares at his stomach as if it would tell her why the new baby isn't in there.

"Because boys can't have babies. You know how Jamie looks a little bit different than you?" she nods again. "Well, boys are a little different inside their tummies too and because of that, they can't have a baby in their tummy. Only girls can. And today we'll find out if you're getting a brother or sister with this machine," he points at the ultrasound machine, "because we can look into Serena's tummy with it."

"How long until it comes out?"

"It still has to grow a bit more but in summer the baby will be big enough and then it will want to meet you, okay?" When Alexandra nods, Kurt leaves her with Serena for a moment since Hunter's in the room too so he can fetch the doctor.

His phone rings after he's told the nurse that they are ready now, and he accepts the Facetime call as soon as he's back in the exam room.

"Daddy," Alexandra yells when she sees who's calling and Kurt hands her the phone because she's obviously missed her father while he was gone the last couple of days.

He catches Jamie right before he tries to push his sister aside so he can talk to Blaine too and Kurt silently thanks Blaine when he tells their daughter to move the phone a bit so he can see her brother too. When the doctor steps into the room, Kurt takes the phone from her though, after Blaine promises that he will tuck her in tonight and read her two stories.

"I think they'll let me fly back soon, because they haven't found anything yet and it might just have been another fake threat," Blaine says and Kurt frowns because this isn't the first time someone called in a bomb threat when the King was in Washington.

"They checked your plane too, right? Alexandra's too young to be Queen," he adds with a wink then because he doesn't want Blaine to know how worried he actually is. If he weren't, he would be much more pissed that Blaine's missing another appointment when he had been the one who'd pushed for another baby even though they'd already secured Blaine's line.

To be fair though, Blaine had worked hard to make more time for the kids after Jamie was born but Kurt had still wanted to wait a bit longer for baby number three, especially when he got offered a role in a film musical last year and with a new baby at home, six weeks of rehearsal and sixteen weeks of filming wouldn't have been doable without hiring a full-time nanny.

It had involved a lot of arguing with the government and Blaine threatening to hire private security if parliament thought the royal guards couldn't handle Alexandra's security, but in the end they had relented and had let Kurt and Blaine enroll her in a private preschool when she was three. The school was popular with celebrities and multimillionaires because it had experience with families whose children needed extra security and had actually been recommended to him by one of his costars from his TV show.

Kurt took Jamie with him on days he had to be on set the whole day, and asked his guards to watch his son when he was filming a scene, and on days he wasn't required till late or only till about noon, Blaine cleared his schedule for the remainder of the day so he could watch their eighteen months old. This way they made it work while Kurt filmed the movie. After it wrapped, he gave Blaine the go ahead for baby number three and went to the clinic to provide a sperm sample. It was good timing too, because by the time the baby is born, Jamie will join Alexandra in preschool for half days like his sister, so Kurt doesn't have to take care of two preschoolers in addition to a baby while Blaine works.

It's not that he doesn't love his children, but Blaine's a busy man and during the week it usually falls to Kurt to take care of the children which is incredibly exhausting at times. Weekends are usually reserved for family though, unless they invite their friends' kids over for playdates. Now that the kids are older it usually frees them up for some grownup talk too while the kids play in the Palace gardens or in Alexandra's and Jamie's playroom under the watchful eyes of the guards. Thankfully, Rachel and Jesse's daughter Barbra mostly gets along with his and Blaine's daughter and Wes and Carmen's girl Eva who's Jamie's age usually plays with their son.

"Yes, they checked, don't worry Kurt. I wouldn't actually do anything that would put me in danger, especially not now when we're having another baby," Blaine says quietly while the doctor explains to Alexandra what she's doing.

"I know," Kurt replies softly. "And I wish I could just ignore those threats because I'm sure that's what the people responsible want, that we live in constant fear. But I can't, because I know there's a reason why we can't go anywhere without security when there are people who actually want us dead. Probably not because they think you are a bad king, but just because we love each other and have a family together. What if one day it's not an empty threat and someone really tries to blow you up?"

Blaine doesn't get to answer - and what can he say in response anyway - because the doctor asks Alexandra what she would like.

"Would you rather have a sister or a brother?"

"I can choose?" Alexandra's eyes light up.  
"Sorry, honey, no choosing," Kurt tells her and Alexandra pouts for a moment before she turns back to the doctor.

"I want a sister. If it's another brother please take him back and exchange him."

The doctor laughs and turns to Kurt and Blaine on the phone.

"I guess you are lucky then. It's a healthy baby girl."

 **July 2026**

 _By Order of The Crown of America, The Royal Family of Virginia_

 _The Palace announces the birth of The Lady Lilian Grace Marie Hummel of Ohio, born July 15th at 1.51 PM at Mount Sinai hospital in New York City. The baby was released from hospital to his Majesty King Blaine and Mr. Kurt Hummel on July 16th and now resides with the royal couple and older siblings Crown Princess Alexandra and Prince James at the Palace._

Since the election of Prime Minister Christina Cohen-Chang, Blaine's had an easier time getting changes to royal law approved by parliament. The liberal party had won the parliamentary election the previous year and with Tina, as the PM liked to be called, Blaine now has an ally in Washington. He still didn't get the necessary votes he would have needed to grant already born non royal children a title, but Tina helped him get approval for a law that would protect the children of royals who have children with divorcees and in same sex marriages, the children who are biological related to the non royal partner. The necessary papers were signed just in time, six weeks before Lilly was born, because Blaine never wanted his children to be treated differently just because of biology. It's different with Alexandra. She'll always be treated a little differently, because she's the heir apparent and will be Queen when Blaine dies or abdicates for her when he's old and grey. There are no rules against it, but in the last four hundred years, no King or Queen has ever abdicated in America so they could watch their son or daughter ascend the throne. It was Kurt who said, 'I never want to see her as Queen if it means you'll be dead and I'll be left behind without you', and made Blaine research the laws, because who knew, maybe you could only abdicate for brothers and the like and not your own children. What he found though was a law that stated that the King should relinquish his hold over the Kingdom when not in possession of all his faculties any longer, which Blaine interpreted as permission to abdicate for Alexandra when he was old. Most monarchs had died young in the past, so they never even got to the point where they were too old to reign, but Blaine was determined to outlive his father and grandfather who both died young too.

Lilly yaws against his chest and blinks her eyes open. She's got chestnut colored hair like Kurt and hazel eyes like Blaine with the cutest button nose. Kurt's helped wrap her up in her baby sling before he went out to pick up Alexandra and Jamie from preschool, saying there was no reason Blaine couldn't work while watching the baby when she was going to sleep for another hour at least. And since he promised to help out more after Jamie was born, Blaine didn't protest.

He's come to like it though, reading through papers while his son and now daughter sleep against his chest. Also, Kurt's been asked to workshop another musical and Blaine knows he wants to say yes and only hasn't yet because they just had a baby. But if Blaine can prove that he can do this - watch the older kids when they come home from preschool and take care of the baby - then Kurt can say yes to what sounds like another dream role and Blaine's always been Kurt's biggest fan apart from Burt.

Parliament is out for the summer anyway and on days Blaine has to go to Washington come fall, he's sure he'll find someone at the Palace willing to watch the baby since they've never had a problem this far. Well, mostly because Kurt will pretty much force Puck and Sam to babysit when he's horny because this way, the kids are looked after and the guards can't hover outside their quarters.

Basically, it's their own fault though that they need constant security even inside the Palace, because if they didn't allow visitors when they are home they could probably reduce security a bit. But neither of them wants to lose the extra income because the popularity of the royal family has soared since Blaine abolished royal tax, a tax that had forced every earner in the Kingdom to pay a percentage of their income to the royal family so they could pay for extra security for big events and things like coronations, funerals and weddings.

Lilly yawns adorably again, but otherwise she seems content for the moment. They've scheduled the photographer for the weekend, a little later than normal, but Jamie fell on the playground and they wanted to wait for the scratches on his face to heal before they took the family foto for the press.

Blaine looks up when there's a soft knock on the door and Puck pokes his head in.

"Palace security just called. Your mom's on her way in and wants to meet you in the library."

Blaine takes a deep breath and gets out of his office chair, careful not to jostle Lilly too much. He can't be angry with his mother for coming so late, because he thought she wouldn't come at all when she heard Lilly is biologically Kurt's. But she's called a few days ago to announce she would be visiting the city with Pierre, her current and age appropriate boyfriend, and would like to visit Blaine and his family. She didn't specifically mention the baby, but he'd emailed her a picture of the newborn only minutes after she was born so she must know that there's five of them now.

When he gets to the library, his mother is already waiting, but she's alone.

"Where's Pierre?" he asks after dutifully kissing her cheek. "You know you are welcome to bring him here."

"It wouldn't be proper," his mother says simply before she inspects the baby in Blaine's arms. "She looks a bit like you. Is she really not yours?"

"She is mine, but not the way you mean it. You'd know if she were because then she'd be a princess."

"I was surprised to see your announcement. I thought Kurt's children wouldn't get titles."

"I changed the law," Blaine informs her. "All three of them are my children and they should be treated as such. And she wouldn't be if her name was 'only' Lilly Hummel. It happens with Kurt all the time too. If I hadn't put my foot down, the old government would have taken away Kurt's personal guard after Jamie was born because now that I had two heirs, he wasn't needed anymore and who cared if something happened to the commoner who was married to the King."

He's pretty sure Prime Minister Grey would have preferred it if he hadn't needed to follow common law and could have just had children without getting married first.

"Your father would have never done that, change royal law for his own personal gain," his mother frowns though her expression softens when Lilly rubs her eyes with her tiny fists.

"There weren't any laws that kept him from marrying the person he loved and from having a family with that person," Blaine points out. "But you're right if you think he never would have changed the laws for me. I've accepted a long time ago that he rather would have seen me in a miserable marriage with a woman or alone for the rest of my life than allow me to marry the man that I love. And without his permission, I wouldn't have been allowed to."

"That sounds like you are happy he's dead," his mother says with a frown on her face and Blaine wants to deny it but he can't, not when there's some truth in what she's saying.

"I'm sorry you lost him," he settles on, "but I'm not going to pretend that my life didn't change for the better after his death. I have an amazing husband, three beautiful children and in the last poll only 37% said I shouldn't have ascended the throne because of my sexuality. That's 10% less than when I was coronated."

He probably has to thank the children for that, because no one could withstand Alexandra's charms when he and Kurt took her to an orphanage last Christmas and tasked her with handing out presents to kids less fortunate than her and Jamie. The pictures of the four year old Crown Princess kneeling down next to a two year old girl and handing her a doll while Blaine was watching her with Jamie on one arm and the other slung around Kurt's shoulder, ended up on all the front pages. Kurt was doing interviews for his film at that point and all interviewers wanted to talk about, were Kurt and Blaine's lovely children. As always, they didn't tell anyone but immediate family about the new baby until it was born, because they were afraid some overzealous reporter might find out who there surrogate was and put her and the unborn child in danger. So Kurt dodged all questions about whether they had plans for another child after Alexandra was recorded saying she wanted another baby to play with for Christmas.

"I've tried to put myself into your shoes," his mother says out of the blue. "And I don't fault you if you're not morning your father. I resented your grandfather too, because he told me the first time we met that I would never get to marry his only son, even if he had to change back the laws so royals could only marry other royals. I don't know how Richard got him to change his mind, but Edward was barely civil to me even when we lived in the Palace together and when he died, I didn't shed a single tear," his mother confesses and Blaine tries to remember his grandfather's funeral but he can't because it happened such a long time ago now. All he remembers is being afraid of his grandfather the King, because he was of the opinion children should be seen not heard and whenever he thought he and Cooper were being too loud, he'd scream at them and threaten them with sending them away for school when Blaine wasn't even six years old. If his mother was unhappy living in the Palace when King Edward was still alive, she hid it well, because he never would have guessed if she didn't just tell him.

"It won't be like this with my kids," Blaine says because they tell them every night how much they love them and obviously, they will be free to marry whoever they like. Well not some raging homophobe or an abolitionist, but it wouldn't matter to him and Kurt if their kids married men or women, royals or non royals, or rich or poor people as long as they are happy.

"Where is Alexandra? I brought her a dress from Paris for James' birthday party."

"Kurt's picking the kids up from preschool because they've both been acting a little jealous since Lilly was born. But they should be back any minute now."

"I still can't believe government gave you permission to send them to school in New York. They wouldn't let us when you and Cooper were young," his mom says, sounding impressed to Blaine's surprise.

"I didn't want our children to be taught at the Palace because I hated it," Blaine confesses. "I didn't have any friends because all the people in my life were much older and Cooper was never very interested in me."

"And this school you are sending them to is safe?" his mom asks when he gets a text from Kurt.

 _Just heard your mom's here. Is it safe to come up? - Kurt_

"You wouldn't think it's a school from the outside because of all the securities guarding the property," Blaine says while he texts Kurt back.

 _She was asking about Alexandra, so I guess so. We're in the library - Blaine_

"What I worry though is what to do when the kids are older. If possible, we don't want to send them away for boarding school but if they go to school in New York, Alexandra will never be able to go anywhere without a guard and I don't want her to grow up like that. But I guess, Kurt and I will cross that bridge when we get there. She's not even five so we still have time before we have to make a decision."

"I can't believe you've been with him for ten years," his mother shakes her head in disbelief. "I was so sure it would be nothing more than a phase."

"We've been married six years and have three children. I really hope you don't think that anymore," Blaine says sharply and to his surprise his mother shakes her head. She's full of surprises today.

"No. He and the children clearly are your family like your father, you and Cooper were my family. And I'm sorry it took me so long to see it."

His mother is staring at the wall above Blaine's head, but this is big, so he leans forward and kisses her cheek.

"Thank you."

They are interrupted by a loud squeal of 'grandma' from Alexandra who comes barreling into the room, followed a bit more slowly by Kurt, Jamie and the dogs who must have followed Kurt in from the gardens. Lilly stirs, but again she doesn't start crying and Blaine shakes his head when Kurt asks if he should take her.

"Did you bring me something?" Alexandra asks from her new perch on his mom's lap while Jamie climbs onto the couch next to her.

"What kind of grandma would I be if I didn't," his mom says and points at a bag beside her feet.

While the kids fight over who gets to look into the bag first, Kurt crosses over to Blaine and kisses him hello, disapproving King mom be damned before pressing a kiss to Lilly's baby soft cheek.

"I was telling Blaine that she's very sweet, your little girl," Queen Pamela surprises him and Kurt beams.

"They all are," he says with a smile on his face even though sometimes their kids can be a nightmare because they won't listen to either Kurt or Blaine and act a little too entitled for Kurt's taste, but they are not stupid, they already understand that they are different than other little boys and girls and that not everyone lives in a palace even if they don't know yet who their fathers are.

"Did you have a good trip, Your Highness?" Kurt asks his mother-in-law politely while Alexandra unwraps a book about different horse breeds and Jamie a farm animal puzzle.

"You know what, Kurt," the Queen holds out her hand for Kurt to shake. "I think it's high time you called me Pam."

Lilly choses this historic moment to start crying and it ends with Kurt and Blaine both staring at Blaine's mom in shock when she takes Lilly from Blaine and starts shushing her softly.

"What?" the queen asks when she catches them staring. "Can't I hold my granddaughter?"

There are tears in Blaine's eyes when he wraps his mom and his daughter up in his arms.

"Of course you can," the King hiccups. "I just never thought I'd hear you say this."

Not wanting to be left out, Alexandra and Jamie push into the hug as well and when Blaine holds out his hand for him, Kurt only hesitates a moment before he joins the unlikely group hug because for years his mother-in-law was a royal pain in the ass.

"You know, Pam, if you want to make it up to us, you could babysit Alexandra and Jamie next months for Blaine and my anniversary. Your son's been promising me to take me to London and get me a private tour of Buckingham Palace for years now and maybe if we had someone to watch the kids, he would finally deliver," Kurt extends an olive branch to his mother-in-law because he spent ten years under her disapproving glare and he'd love to bury the hatchet before the kids are old enough to notice that papa and grandma don't get along.

"I would like that," Pam smiles before she rubs the back of her neck sheepishly which is such as Blaine gesture. "I'd also love it if you would all come to Paris in the spring. Pierre has asked me to marry him and I agreed since I made him wait long enough. I know I shouldn't ask because this will be his third marriage and both his ex-wives are still alive but I'd like my family there, your family and Cooper's."

Kurt can't stop himself and laughs out loud. "Don't worry Pam, the non traditional royal couple has no problem attending your church disapproved wedding."

Blaine joins his laughter and after a moment Pam laughs too because it's absurd that first Blaine and now his mom nearly chose to spend their lives unhappy just to please a bunch of old guys in ugly robes. Since he has to attend church with Blaine once a week he's seriously considered asking the bishops if he could redesign their outfits, but somehow he knew it wouldn't go over well.

"So yes, His Majesty King Blaine and Mr. Kurt Hummel," he imitates how they are usually announced, "would love to defy expectations once more and come to your wedding."

Alexandra suddenly looks up at them with wide eyes.

"You're a King, Daddy? Like in Lion King?"

Blaine looks at Kurt pleadingly but Kurt shakes his head, because he had to explain surrogacy to her.

"Sorry, Your Majesty," he teases, "this one's yours."

 **THE END**

* * *

I really hope I didn't jinx things for Elton John and he'll still be alive in 2020 ;)

The link for Plato's Symposium leads to the song The Origin of Love from Hedwig and the Angry Inch sung by Neil Patrick Harris

Thanks again for all the comments and likes!


End file.
